Kai Suikkanen and SV Kaltern lost against Pergine. © SV Kaltern

Painful defeat: Pike lose the lead

SV Kaltern suffered a bitter defeat in the Italian Hockey League (IHL) on Saturday evening. Opponent Pergine seemed already beaten, but turned up the heat midway through the game and won after extra time.

13 January 2024

From: leo

Kaltern had lost all of the last five games of the regular season and had to hand over the lead in the table to Pergine. The Trentino team, who had won 21-6 in Kaltern on December 1st, also prevailed in the Master Round - even though they were already 0-3 behind.

Kai Suikkanen's team already looked like the sure winners after the first third: Luca De Donà and double goalscorer Moritz Selva made it 3-0 at the break. The guests made it 1:3 exactly in the middle of the game through Jozef Foltin, before new signing William Lemay scored the all-important goal 36 seconds before the end of the second period. Damiano Flessati completed the comeback in the final third before Christian Buono gave Pergine the extra point in extra time.

Eppan loses in Varese

HC Eppan had already lost against champions Varese for the first time this season after two overtime wins. In front of 915 spectators, the Pirates took the lead after just five minutes through Riccardo Tombolato, but the home team equalized in the first third through Pietro Borghi. Massimo Pietroniro was credited with the winning goal before Erik Näslund made everything clear with a power play goal in the final phase. Pietroniro made the final score 4-1 with an empty net goal.

Meanwhile, the Falcons Brixen celebrated a surprising 2-1 win after a penalty shootout against Fiemme. This means that Maximilian Leitner & Co. stay in touch with third place in the Qualification Round. As a reminder: only the first three teams make the playoffs. Alex Manula became the match winner, not only making it 1-1 but also sinking the decisive penalty. The Toblach Icebears, however, remain at the bottom of the table after the 2:5 home defeat against Como.

Italian Hockey League:

Master round

Varese – Eppan 4:1
Goals: 0:1 Tombolato (5.17), 1:1 Borghi (16.01), 2:1 Pietroniro (32.49), 3:1 Naslund (52.13), 4:1 Pietorniro (57.32)
Audience: 915

SV Kaltern – Pergine 3:4 nV
Goals: 1:0 De Donà (5.33), 2:0 Selva (8.49), 3:0 Selva (17.57), 3:1 Foltin (30.00), 3:2 Lemay (39.24), 3:3 Flessati (48.15) , 3:4 Christian Buono (61.32)
Audience: 310


Qualification Round

Feltre - Valpellice 4:1
Goals: 1:0 Blaha (29.44), 1:1 Morel (42.21), 2:1 Broch (45.49), 3:1 Dall’Agnol (55.31), 4:1 Eruzione (59.23)
Audience: 784

Fiemme – Falcons Brixen 1:2 nP
Goals: 1:0 Moucka (20.24), 1:1 Manula (38.36); decisive penalty: Manula
Audience: 458

Dobbiaco Icebears – Como 2:5
Goals: 0:1 Popovic (00.34), 0:2 Marcati (9.39), 0:3 Kizlo (36.39), 0:4 Vozolik (44.12), 1:4 Rizzo (51.34), 1:5 Terzago (57.01), 2:5 Pompanin (58.17)
Audience: 244