Goalie Cody Jordan Porter suffered a defeat with Val Gardena. © Lukas Vanzi

South Tyrolean test matches: The little champion annoys the big one

On Friday evening, the South Tyrolean ice hockey clubs worked diligently on their form for the upcoming season. Several test matches were scheduled, and there was even a surprise result.

September 04, 2026

From: det

It was an interesting match that took place on Friday evening at the Raiffeisen Arena in Kaltern. On one side were the home team, who had won the Italian Hockey League last season. On the other side... HC Val Gardena, who had become the surprise champions of the higher league – the Alps Hockey League. In the end, the underdog prevailed against the big team: The SV Kaltern won surprisingly 4-3 after overtime.

Initially, the world was turned upside down in front of nearly 200 fans: After 33 minutes, the underdogs from Kaltern were leading 3-0. De Dona (5th minute), Rajamäki (33rd minute), and Jonas Oberrauch (34th minute) gave them a commanding lead, which Gröden managed to equalize in the final minutes. Biondi (51st minute), Kasslatter (57th minute), and Pietroniro with 15 seconds remaining made it 3-3. In overtime, Kaltern's star new signing, Raphael Andergassen, scored the winning goal.

Ritten secures a clear victory in the AlpsHL duel

In Klobenstein, the Rittner Buam and the Underland Cavaliers Two AlpsHL clubs faced off. The Buam emerged victorious with a decisive 4-0 win. After a scoreless first period, Leo Felicetti and his teammates started the second period like a house on fire. Just 30 seconds in, Capannelli scored the opening goal (20:30), assisted by Markkula. Barely four minutes later, Insam added a second goal on the power play (24:46).

The two captains, Simon Kostner (Ritten/left) and Gabriel Zerbetto (Unterland Cavaliers/right). © Max Pattis

In the final period, the Ritten Buam capitalized on their superiority – the shot statistics clearly favored the hosts at 45:16 – to seal the victory. First, young Max Oberrauch increased the lead to 3-0 after a pass from Spinell (42:46), before Felicetti made it 4-0 on the power play (48:25).

Broncos thrashing

AlpsHL club was also in action Wipptal Broncos. However, the Sterzing team had to play against the Swiss second division team in their own hall. GDT Bellinzona They suffered a 3-7 drubbing. Livingston, Ansons, and Ranklev scored the Broncos' goals.