HC Falcons Brixen had eight reasons to celebrate. © HC Falcons Brixen

A goal fest and the great Italian Cup fever

The final matchday of the regular season in the Italian Hockey League (IHL) took place on Saturday. The opening game of 2026 was a goal fest in the South Tyrolean derby.

03 January 2026

From: dl

The five participants in the Master Round (SV Kaltern, Alleghe Hockey, HC Eppan, HC Varese, and HC Aosta) had already been determined – and with them, the first playoff participants. Before the first matchday of the year, only the final ticket to the Italian Cup finals remained. This went to Varese, as Aosta had already suffered a crushing 2-6 defeat against the Fassa Falcons on Friday evening.

The HC Eppan However, they missed out on second place in the preliminary round. The Pirates lost a spectacular South Tyrolean duel on Saturday at the HC Falcons Brixen The final score was 6-8. Seven of the 14 goals – half – were scored in the first period alone. Eppan repeatedly came back from a deficit before Brixen ultimately prevailed in the goal fest.

The SV Kaltern suffered their fourth defeat of the season in Alleghe. In the venerable Alvise De Toni, the home team, playing before nearly 2.000 spectators, clearly defeated the regular season champions 6-2, thus winning the top match of the final round. HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites, the bottom team in the league, celebrated a respectable 4:1 victory against HC Valdifiemme, the second-to-last team in the standings, to conclude the season.

Italian Cup Final Round: The Schedule

The schedule for the Italian Cup finals, which will take place in Milan next weekend from January 9th to 11th, is now finalized: Kaltern will face Varese on Friday at 8 pm, while Eppan will play their semi-final against Alleghe on Saturday at 11 am. The Italian Cup final will then take place on Sunday at 3:30 pm.

IHL: Saturday's games

Falcons Brixen - HC Eppan 8:6
0:1 Roach (03.10), 1:1 Mantinger (05.20), 2:1 Rinnetmäki (05.47), 2:2 Rottensteiner (08.39), 3:2 Docter (15.41), 3:3 Eruzione (17.09), 4:3 Docter (17.53), 5:3 Mantinger (32.11), 5:4 Pardatscher (33.17), 6:4 Niccolai (46.02), 6:5 Amici (46.59), 6:6 Eruzione (51.27), 7:6 Rinnetmäki (52.53), 8:6 Covelli (59.13)
Audience: 210

HC Varese - Hockey Pergine 0:3
0:1 Sullmann (13.58), 0:2 Marcazzan (47.00), 0:3 Korkiakoski (50.11)
Audience: 950

Valdifiemme HC - HC 3 Zinnen 1:4
0:1 Adami (09.04), 1:1 Vanzetta (14.32), 1:2 Pais (48.45), 1:3 Majul (49.56), 1:4 Pais (59.24)
Audience: 690

Valpellice Bulldogs - HC Feltre 4:5
1:0 Pozzi (01.23), 1:1 Fantinel (02.47), 2:1 Pozzi (19.44), 2:2 Zampieri (24.41), 3:2 Long (38.28), 3:3 Foltin (39.03), 4:3 Salvai (43.05), 4:4 Gabri (50.05), 4:5 Da Forno (50.56)
Audience: 1.023

Alleghe Hockey - SV Kaltern 6:2
1:0 Aleksandrov (06.16), 2:0 Huhtela (12.09), 3:0 Iori (15.30), 3:1 Selva (25.27), 4:1 De Toni (28.36), 5:1 Alessio (39.39), 6:1 Alessio (40.52), 6:2 Sölva (46.31)
Audience: 1.944

The table of the preliminary round