First win for Red Bull Hockey Juniors in the AHL Qual­i­fi­ca­tion Round

Rittner Buam SkyAlps celebrated a commanding 5:1 victory over S.G. Cortina Hafro to climb to second place in the standings. S.G. Cortina Hafro were unable to stop an unstoppable Ethan Szypula, who recorded a hat-trick. In the first period, Cortina were still able to keep pace with Ritten and went into the first intermission trailing 0:1 only because they failed to convert their chances. While Colin Furlong remained assured in the Ritten goal, the home side's offence took its chances clinically. While Cortina remain bottom of the standings following this defeat, Ritten are now the first challengers to leaders Zell, who already hold a seven-point advantage.

In the second Master Round clash, Acroni Jesenice claimed a shootout victory over Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel. The Adler made the better start and went into the first intermission with a 1:0 lead. Following the equaliser in the middle period, Kitzbühel took the lead again – but it did not last long. After a scoreless third period and overtime, Valtola Olli eventually scored the game-winning goal in the shootout.

HC Meran/o confirmed their lead in Qualification Round A on Thursday evening. The top clash against Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan lived up to expectations. Sterzing took an early lead in the game. However, HC Meran/o turned the game around by the 22nd minute, when the visitors took the lead. Sterzing equalised twice more, but Massimo Pietroniro then sealed the 4:3 victory in overtime, confirming his side's position at the top of the group.

Red Bull Hockey Juniors celebrated their first victory in Qualification Round A on Thursday evening. HC Gherdeina made the better start and went into the first intermission with a 1:0 lead. The young Salzburg side then took control and moved 2:1 ahead. However, Gherdeina found the equaliser in the final period, sending the game into overtime. There, Philipp Wimmer scored his second goal of the evening to decide the game.

Following KHL Sisak, HK Celje also qualified for the Pre-Playoffs ahead of schedule. The Slovenians prevailed 4:3 in an exciting game against KHL Sisak, who had already secured their Pre-Playoff ticket a few days earlier, and displaced the Croatians from the top of the standings. The lead changed hands several times in this game. After Sisak equalised in the 51st minute, Mark Sojer scored his third goal of the evening to seal the win.

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers showed that they can handle the pressure well and remain in contention for the final Pre-Playoff ticket after a 4:1 victory over EC Bregenzerwald. Bregenzerwald, who had previously celebrated two wins against Celje but must now continue to worry about a place in the Pre-Playoffs, made the early breakthrough. However, from the 15th minute onwards, the Cavaliers turned the game around with three goals in three minutes in the first period. Daniels Murnieks recorded a hat-trick.

Alps Hockey League:

Master Round:

Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel vs. SIJ Acroni Jesenice 2:3 SO (1:0,1:2,0:0,0:0,0:1)
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Rittner Buam SkyAlps vs. S.G. Cortina Hafro 5:1 (1:0,1:0,3:1)
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Qualification Round A:

Red Bull Hockey Juniors vs. HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 3:2 SO (0:1,1:0,1:1,0:0,1:0)
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Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan vs. HC Meran/o Pircher 3:4 OT (1:1,1:2,1:0,0:1)
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Qualification Round B:

HK RST Pellet Celje vs. KHL Sisak 4:3 (1:2,2:0,1:1)
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Hockey Unterland Cavaliers vs. EC Bregenzerwald 4:1 (3:1,1:0,0:0)
>> Goalscorers and statistics