SC Samina Hohenems 1974 face ESC SoccerZone Steindorf in the final!

Four became two. The final of the Ö Eishockey Liga 2022/2023 will see SC Samina Hohenems 1974 take on ESC SoccerZone Steindorf. As the higher-ranked team after the regular season, Hohenems will play away first. The Vorarlberg side prevailed 5:1 against Kapfenberger SV in front of 1.253 fans at the Kapfenberg Stadthalle and reached the final with an aggregate score of 9:5. The second semi-final between HC Kufstein and ESC SoccerZone Steindorf at the Eisarena Kufstein, in front of 1.269 fans, was initially extremely close, but the Carinthians won 8:2 after a sensational final period and advanced to the final with an aggregate score of 12:7.

04 March 20236 min read

After the thrilling and eventful 4:4 draw in the first leg, the Kapfenberger SV and SC Samina Hohenems 1974 battled for a place in the Ö Eishockey Liga final at the Stadthalle Kapfenberg on Saturday.

This time, the Styrians, who had already been short-handed in the first leg due to illness, had one more player in the line-up, with 16 skaters taking to the ice in front of 1.253 fans for the second leg against the Steinböcke.

Neither team wasted any time in looking to attack. Play went back and forth. The two goaltenders were in the spotlight early on, with Hohenems' Karlo Skec and Kapfenberg's Oliver Zirngast both keeping a clean sheet in the opening minutes. In the ninth minute, the visitors capitalised on their second power play to take a 1:0 lead, Thomas Auer scoring from close range.

Kapfenberg were now forced to play even more offensively, and they did so. Bernd Schmidle's team was solid defensively, stood firm and worked extremely efficiently in attack: 42 seconds before the end of the period, Martin Grabher-Meier scored his first playoff goal to make it 2:0 at the ideal time from Hohenems' perspective.

In the second period, Johannes Hehle had a great chance to make it 3:0 after breaking clear on the Kapfenberg goal. Oliver Zirngast kept his team in the game and in the series with a superb save. The tension became more noticeable by the minute, and the contest grew more emotional. Rupert Fichtinger and David Slivnik exchanged the first pleasantries.

At the midway point of the game, the Kängurus had a power play and besieged the Hohenems goal; an equaliser was in the air but did not come. Goalie Karlo Skec, together with the defence, kept his net clean. And so it happened as it had to happen: Thomas Auer launched a quick attack down the right and fired home to make it 3:0 for the Vorarlberg side in the 35th minute.

The Schlittschuhclub continued to press, and two minutes before the end of the period, captain Pascal Kainz drove irresistibly in front of the Kapfenberg net and made it 4:0.

In the final period, Kapfenberg fought tenaciously to regain a foothold in the game. The Steinböcke net seemed impenetrable, and it was only shortly after the end of a 5:3 power play that player-coach Kris Reinthaler's team made it 1:4 through Adrian Stühlinger in the 49th minute.

The hope of a comeback lasted barely a minute: following a turnover by the Kängurus during an attack in the neutral zone, SC Hohenems played tic-tac-toe, with Marcel Wolf finishing to make it 5:1 in the 50th minute. With an aggregate score of 9:5, SC Hohenems avenged last year's semi-final elimination against Kapfenberg. ESC SoccerZone Steindorf await in the final.

SF2: Steindorf overwhelm Kufstein in the final period

HC KufsteinHC Kufstein took a one-goal lead into the Ö Eishockey Liga semi-final second leg against ESC SoccerZone Steindorf.

Kufstein's club officials, led by chairman and marketing board member Roland Luchner, had declared "Mission 1.000" before the second leg. And the mission was a success: 1.269 fans did not want to miss the showdown for a place in the final in the fortress town, setting a Tyrolean record for this ÖEL season.

From the outset, a fast and evenly matched game developed at the Eisarena, also reflected in the statistics after 20 minutes, with 15:15 shots on goal. As in the first leg, neither team gave an inch and once again delivered an intense, fast-paced playoff game with plenty of scoring opportunities. The visitors from Carinthia broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, with Markus Pöck giving Steindorf a 1:0 lead and cancelling out the Dragons' one-goal advantage from the first leg.

Head coach Ivo Novotny's team was now under pressure. The situation was not entirely unfamiliar to the Tyrolean side: in the quarter-finals, they had even been 0:3 down against EV Zeltweg Murtal Lions in the second period of the second leg before advancing following a comeback.

Once again, Kufstein remained calm, waited for their chances and took them: Hungarian new signing Boldizsar Beres had the arena boiling for the first time in the 28th minute with the 1:1 equaliser. Just 66 seconds later, the atmosphere reached boiling point when Dominique Saringer beat Steindorf netminder Paul Steiner to give his side a 2:1 lead.

But Steindorf hit back, and how: Christof Martinz found space for a shot in the slot in the 36th minute and sent the puck in for 2:2. Just 41 seconds later, the players from Lake Ossiach were in front. Once again, it was Christof Martinz who fired home for 3:2 and levelled the aggregate score again.

After just 23 seconds of the final period, things got even worse for Kufstein. Following a forceful Steindorf attack, Christof Martinz completed his hat-trick to make it 4:2. Kufstein now had to respond again to turn the tie around once more. Robert Moser's team played with extreme composure, waited for their chances and pulled away relentlessly in the final third. Manuel Wuntschek made it 5:2 for the Carinthians in the 47th minute.

Leevi Ahonen of Kufstein was then sent for an early shower with a five-minute major plus a game misconduct, and it proved a costly penalty: Steindorf pressed on during this phase and sealed the result with two power-play goals, securing their place in the final.

Following a shot by Martin Oraže and a short save by netminder Thomas Hechenberger, Kristian Kravanja swept the puck over the line in the 50th minute. After another quick attack, Benjamin Petrik made it 7:2 in the 52nd minute. Markus Pöck scored another power-play goal in the 59th minute to complete the 8:2 final score.

Steindorf therefore advanced to the final with an aggregate score of 12:7, where SC Samina Hohenems 1974 await. According to the standings after the regular season – Hohenems had more points per game despite the groups having played differing numbers of matches – the first final match will take place in Steindorf.

Play-off format

The final will also be decided in Champions Hockey League (CHL) format, with a first and second leg. The club placed higher after the regular season starts away from home. The aggregate score from the two matches played will be used. The team leading on aggregate after the first and second legs will be crowned champions of the Ö Eishockey Liga. Should the aggregate score be level at the final buzzer after 120 minutes, the winner will be decided in a ten-minute three-on-three overtime and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out with five shooters per team. This means there is no overtime in the first leg. The first leg ends after 60 minutes either level or with a winner after regulation time.

Ö Eishockey Liga play-off semi-final second legs

Semi-final 1:

Kapfenberger SV vs. SC Samina Hohenems 1974 1:5 (0:2,0:2,1:1)
Sat, 04 March 2023, 19:00, Stadthalle Kapfenberg
Kapfenberger SV scorer: Adrian Stühlinger (48:52 min/PP1)
SC Samina Hohenems 1974 scorers: Thomas Auer (08:30 min/PP1, 34:14 min), Martin Grabher-Meier (19:18 min), Pascal Kainz (37:59 min), Marcel Wolf (49:50 min)

SC Samina Hohenems 1974 reached the final with an aggregate score of 9:5. First-leg result: 4:4.

Semi-final 2:

HC Kufstein vs. ESC SoccerZone Steindorf 2:8 (0:1,2:2,0:5)
Sat., 04 March 2023, 17:30, Eisarena Kufstein
HC Kufstein scorers: Boldizsar Beres (27:34), Dominique Saringer (28:40)
ESC SoccerZone Steindorf scorers: Markus Pöck (14:26, 58:56/PP1), Christof Martinz (35:34, 36:15, 40:23), Manuel Wuntschek (46:17), Kristian Kravanja (49:01/PP1), Benjamin Petrik (51:26/PP1)

ESC SoccerZone Steindorf with an aggregate score of 12:7 in the final. First-leg result 5:4 for HC Kufstein.