Val Gardena won spectacularly. © shotmotion_ph

Totally crazy derby: Val Gardena defeats Lower Val Gardena

On Saturday evening, fans who attended the game between HC Gherdëina and the Unterland Cavaliers in Wolkenstein witnessed one of the craziest games in the history of the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL). The home team celebrated a victory after a penalty shootout.

20 December 2025

From: sn

Imagine a team taking the lead five times in a single game – and still not securing all the points. That's what happened that evening between the Furies and the Cavaliers. The two most porous defenses in the league provided neutral spectators with an incredibly entertaining game, while giving their own fans a real headache. In the end, HCG won 7-6 in a penalty shootout.

To the delight of the approximately 700 spectators at the Pranives arena, it took less than three minutes before the goal buzzer sounded for the first time: During the power play, Luca Biondi blocked a shot from teammate Dimitri Vozovik, leaving the puck in front of Hannes Kasslatter, who made no mistake when one-on-one with goalie Tizian Giovanelli. Midway through the first period, Unterland had a chance to capitalize on a power play. However, instead of equalizing, they scored a second goal while shorthanded: After Matthias Rindone made a brilliant save against Marek Potsinok, Davide Schiavone and goal scorer Luca Biondi executed a textbook counterattack. Unterland got back into the game before the buzzer when Thomas Galimberti capitalized on a turnover by Guimond.

Incredible drama

In the second period, neither team placed much emphasis on defense: First, Matthias Bonazzo calmly tapped in a rebound, then Matteo Luisetti (who converted a superb pass from Moncada) was completely lost in the slot, before Hannes Kasslatter's errant pass led to Galimberti's equalizer, making it 3-3. But that wasn't all: Shortly before the end of the period, Vozovik scored a one-timer to put HCG back in the lead.

Anyone who thought the final period would be quiet was mistaken: Gröden struggled with their discipline, which Unterland ruthlessly exploited with Viktor Eriksson's one-timer. Shortly afterward, the visitors also had to take a penalty – and the puck found the back of the net again. This time, Schiavone deflected a Guimond shot with his pants, leaving the goalie helpless. Kasslatter and Simon Pitschieler should have sealed the game after that, but Giovanelli kept his team in the game, and they actually managed to tie it at 5-5 with three minutes remaining. Eriksson scored from the blue line while Rindone was on the ice. What happened next was almost unbelievable: Stephan Deluca pounced on a rebound with a minute and a half left, before Vili Pisetta scored again with 14 seconds left – overtime.

In this match, HCG hit the crossbar twice through Deluca and Pitschieler. Unterland, on the other hand, came close to scoring through Erik Potsinok. Ultimately, a penalty shootout was needed to decide the winner. There, both Deluca and Schiavone scored for Gröden, while only Eriksson was successful for Unterland. The extra point thus remained in Wolkenstein.

Broncos achieve a respectable success

The Wipptal Broncos made a strong statement early in the evening: Johan Sjöquist's team defeated fourth-place Kitzbühel 6-3 – despite falling behind three times. Wipptal responded to the 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3 deficits with a brace from James Livingston and a goal from Franco Sproviero. Davide Conci finally put the home team in the lead in the 35th minute. They extended their lead with a goal from Alex Zecchetto and then successfully defended it until the final buzzer. With 65 seconds remaining, Sproviero sealed the 6-3 victory with an empty-net goal.

Colin Furlong had his hands full. © Manuel Mackinger - Red Bull Hockey Juniors

The Ritten/Renon Buam are unstoppable, having secured their fifth consecutive victory and broken into the top five for the first time this season. On Saturday, Dave MacQueen's team defeated league leaders Salzburg, who had won their last four games, 3-2 in overtime. Captain Simon Kostner scored the game-winning goal. The visitors had previously erased a 0-2 deficit thanks to goals from Diego Cuglietta and Jacob Crespi.

HC Meran put up a valiant fight against reigning champions Zell am See, but ultimately suffered a 3-5 defeat in front of their home fans. This means the Borgatello-coached team has now gone six games – or since November 7th – without a home win. After Filip Cruseman's opening goal, the Salzburg side turned up the heat and pulled ahead to 4-1. Although Samuel Claesson and Daniel Gellon briefly made the game more interesting, the equalizer remained elusive.

Alps Hockey League:

HDD Jesenice – KHL Sisak 6:3
Goals: 1:0 Baloh (2.53), 2:0 Slivnik (10.40), 3:0 Svetina (15.29), 4:0 Jakupovic (28.16), 5:0 Hrobat Plemelj (29.03), 5:1 Brus (30.14), 5:2 Dumcius (36.15), 5:3 Cavlovic (39.00), 6:3 Koblar (51.59)
Audience: 500

Wipptal Broncos – EC Kitzbühel 6-3
Goals: 0-1 Hochfilzer (8:51), 1-1 Livingston (9:23), 1-2 Bretschneider (16:10), 2-2 Sproviero (16:50), 2-3 Krainz (23:05), 3-3 Livingston (27:17), 4-3 Conci (34:20), 5-3 Zecchetto (35:40), 6-3 Conci (58:55)
Audience: 421

Red Bull Juniors – Rittner Buam 2:3 OT
Goals: 1:0 Greil (8.37), 2:0 Wurzer (17.45), 2:1 Cuglietta (27.18), 2:2 Crespi (41.14), 2:3 Kostner (63.06)
Audience: 70

EC Bregenzerwald – HC Asiago 8:3
Goals: 0:1 Porco (25.16), 1:1 Kramer (26.24), 1:2 Valentini (27.53), 1:3 Calisti (32.55), 2:3 Posch (37.50), 3:3 Toivo Laaksonen (38.36), 4:3 Lipsbergs (51.11), 5:3 Haiböck (56.39), 6:3 Zwerger (57.23), 7:3 Pöschmann (57.47), 8:3 Toivo Laaksonen (58.53)
Viewers:

HC Meran – EK Zell am See 3:5
Goals: 1:0 Cruseman (4.03), 1:1 Schmid (10.48), 1:2 Wilfan (16.01), 1:3 Stiegler (19.05), 1:4 Lahoda (37.11), 2:4 Claesson (39.34), 3:4 Gellon (41.02), 3:5 Rupnik (54.52)
Audience: 403

HC Gherdëina – Unterland Cavaliers 7:6 SO
Goals: 1:0 Kasslatter (2.41), 2:0 Biondi (12.22), 2:1 Galimberti (16.36), 2:2 Bonazzo (25.24), 3:2 Luisetti (31.03), 3:3 Galimberti (32.35), 4:3 Vozovik (38.04), 4:4 Eriksson (44.44), 5:4 Schiavone (48.06), 5:5 Eriksson (56.52), 6:5 Deluca (58.28), 6:6 Kaufmann (59.46); decisive penalty: Schiavone
Audience: 712

The table