Hannes Kasslatter experienced a curious evening in Val Gardena. © Robin Bernardi

After a 3-0 lead: This Val Gardena defeat hurts

HC Gröden's hopes for a second win of the season were dashed. The reigning Alps Hockey League champions suffered a heavy home defeat against HC Asiago.

01 October 2026

The HC Gherdëina They missed out on a second consecutive victory, instead suffering their third defeat of the season in four games against HC Asiago. The Furies were already leading 3-0 against one of the title favorites after a good fifteen minutes, before ultimately losing 4-6.

Gröden started like a house on fire: In the fifth minute, Davide Schiavone fired a shot that deflected off an opponent's stick and sailed over the post into the net. Matteo Luisetti then made a quick entry into the zone and fired a blind pass toward the goal, where Hannes Kasslatter was positioned and simply had to tap it in. Things got even better for the fans at the Pranives arena when Luca Biondi broke away shorthanded and coolly slotted the puck past Rudy Rigoni. However, the teams went into the locker room with Gröden leading 3-0, as the Furie lost possession during their offensive zone effort in the 17th minute. Ryan Valentini and goal scorer Ethan Szypula ruthlessly capitalized on this mistake.

Val Gardena suffered a bitter home defeat against Asiago. © Robin Bernardi

At the start of the second period, HCG lost their rhythm, conceding three goals in quick succession: First, Michele Marchetti hit the top corner after the home team failed to clear the puck. Then, Lorenzo Ferretti pounced on the rebound, before Valentini – just 14 seconds later and after a Skokan timeout – made it 4-3 from close range. It took some time for the Fury to recover from this shock. A power play with two and a half minutes remaining in the period led to the equalizer: Massimo Pietroniro passed the puck in front of the net, which Michele Forte deflected over his own goal line with his skate.

Exactly one minute later, Valentini scored again with a high shot from the slot. In the final period, Gröden tried everything to get back into the game and, after falling behind 4-6 with six minutes remaining, pulled their new goalie, Cody Porter. But it didn't change the outcome.

Victories for Ritten and Merano

The HC Meran The Eagles won 2-1 in a penalty shootout against Salzburg's reserve team, even without forwards David Trivellato, Semir Laimer Gerstl, and Tommaso Mazza. Despite numerous shots, the game in the city of Mozart remained low-scoring for a long time before Massimo Tirone broke away after 45 minutes on a quick counterattack and calmly slotted the ball home. Just three minutes later, Meran equalized, making it 1-1. In overtime, the Eagles dominated but couldn't find the net. The penalty shootout then saw them secure the victory once again. Mike Levin his class.

Lukas Plank won with Meran in the Young Bulls competition after a penalty shootout.

After the narrow 4:5 defeat in Zell am See, the Rittner Buam On Thursday evening, the team celebrated their third victory of the season in their fourth league game. The blue-reds defeated EC-KAC Future Team 5-2 away from home. The final period proved decisive: After newcomer Angelo Miceli scored to make it 4-2 with about ten minutes remaining, Ritten found themselves with a two-man disadvantage. However, the visitors successfully killed off the penalty.

Sterzing suffers a slap in the face.

However, the Wipptal BroncosSterzing, missing Alessio Niccolai, Alexander Brunner, Carter Randklev, James Livingston, Fabian Gschliesser, and Tobias Pisetta, suffered a crushing 3-8 defeat in Kitzbühel. The heavy loss began in the first period, when the home team from Kitzbühel took a 4-0 lead after just twelve minutes. After that, the visitors from Sterzing were only able to try to improve the scoreline.

The Unterland Cavaliers were leading until shortly before the end. © Sara Kaneppele

The Underland Cavaliers They suffered a bitter 3-4 home defeat against the previously bottom-ranked Cortina d'Hawaii. After two goals from Finnish defenseman Niko Nissilä, the Cavs led 3-2 with three minutes remaining, before ultimately succumbing in overtime.

AlpsHL: Thursday's games

KAC Future Team – Rittner Buam 2:5
1:0 Gregoric (03.57), 1:1 Insam (18.31), 1:2 Tauferer (22.51), 2:2 Bizjak (27.59), 2:3 Capannelli (36.04), 2:4 Miceli (49.20), 2:5 Markkula (59.55)
Audience: 110

Red Bull Juniors – HC Meran 1:2 nP
0:1 Tirone (45:27), 1:1 Krainer (48:43), decisive penalty: Levin
Audience: 80

EC Kitzbühel – Wipptal Broncos 8:3
1:0 Podlipnik (05:40), 2:0 Stahlberg (07:51), 3:0 Podlipnik (10:44), 4:0 Livsics (12:22), 5:0 Krainz (33:38), 5:1 Hofer (35:14), 6:1 Stahlberg (38:02), 6:2 Conci (46:46), 7:2 Aigner (53:19), 7:3 Cianfrone (55:28), 8:3 Hanl (58:42)
Audience: 459

KHL Sisak – EK Zell am See 1:2
0:1 Zezovsek (03.34), 0:2 Tomazevic (27.52), 1:2 Lesnicar (59.32)
Audience: 1.032

Unterland Cavaliers – SG Cortina 3:4 aet
0:1 Perino (22.52), 1:1 Nissilä (26.50), 1:2 Huhtanen (27.28), 2:2 Engelaar (38.10), 3:2 Nissilä (51.55), 3:3 Sukhytskyi (57.31), 3:4 Kalajanniska (61.29)
Audience: 247

HC Gherdëina – HC Asiago 4:6
1:0 Schiavone (04.42), 2:0 Kasslatter (11.40), 3:0 Biondi (15.48), 3:1 Szypula (16.55), 3:2 Marchetti (25.20), 3:3 Ferretti (27.42), 3:4 Valentini (27.56), 4:4 Pietroniro (37.30), 4:5 Valentini (38.30), 4:6 Magnabosco (40.38)
Audience: 476

The table