Red Bull Hockey Juniors lose to cham­pions Ritten – third consec­u­tive win for Bregen­z­er­wald

EC Bregenzerwald defeated HC Meran/o Pircher 4:2. It was already the third consecutive win for the eleventh-placed side from Vorarlberg, while Meran suffered their fourth defeat in the last five games. The hosts led 2:0 after the first period in front of 900 fans, before the visitors pulled back to 1:2 in the 28th minute. The “Wälder” restored their two-goal lead before the end of the second period. The Vorarlberg side scored the decisive goal early in the final period, with the visitors from South Tyrol able only to add a consolation goal shortly before the end.

SIJ Acroni Jesenice moved past Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel in the standings with a 5:2 home win over Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan and are now third, two points behind leaders Sisak.

Sterzing suffered their sixth consecutive defeat and remain bottom of the standings, already six points behind second-bottom Meran. In Jesenice, the South Tyroleans were 0:3 down after just nine minutes before pulling back to 1:3. The Broncos even scored to reduce the deficit with ten minutes remaining.

However, the South Tyroleans’ comeback went unrewarded after Erik Svetina made it 4:2 in the 56th minute. It was the forward’s second goal of the evening.

Defending champions Rittner Buam SkyAlps narrowly won 4:3 at the Red Bull Hockey Juniors. After a high-scoring opening period, which went 3:2 to the “Buam”, the Juniors equalised in the middle period. Ritten’s game-winner came from Alan Lobis early in the final period. The forward had also scored to make it 3:1 to the visitors. The South Tyroleans remain fifth in the standings, while Salzburg are tenth.

The game between HK RST Pellet Celje and Hockey Unterland Cavaliers also remained hugely exciting until the end, with the hosts eventually prevailing 3:2 thanks to Bohdan Panasenko’s game-winning goal with 19 seconds remaining. The visitors had led 2:1 at one stage. It was the second win in succession for the sixth-placed side, while the eighth-placed Cavaliers suffered their second consecutive defeat.

In the fifth game of the day, S.G. Cortina Hafro narrowly prevailed 4:3 against HC Gherdeina valgardena.it. Waltteri Lehtonen gave the hosts the lead short-handed in the eighth minute. Cortina even extended their lead to 3:0 in the second period before the visitors got on the scoresheet for the first time.

In the final period, Gröden levelled the score with two quick goals in the 44th minute. However, the hosts ultimately prevailed thanks to a Riccardo Lacedelli goal six minutes from time. Cortina moved up to seventh place with their fifth win of the season and also overtook Gröden, who are ninth.

Alps Hockey League:

EC Bregenzerwald vs. HC Meran/o 4:2 (2:0,1:1,1:1)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

SIJ Acroni Jesenice vs. Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 5:2 (3:1,0:0,2:1)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

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

Red Bull Hockey Juniors vs. Rittner Buam SkyAlps  3:4 (2:3,1:0,0:1)
>> Goalscorers and statistics

S.G. Cortina Hafro vs. HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 4:3 (1:0,2:1,1:2)

>> Goalscorers and statistics