Videos
There was a flurry of activity in front of both gates: Bolzano (in red) ultimately had to admit defeat to Salzburg. © All photos: Vanna Antonello
Bolzano's wild rodeo ride with a hard impact
After a magical few days in the Champions Hockey League, HCB Südtirol Alperia has returned to reality. They suffered a narrow defeat in their first league match against champions Red Bull Salzburg on Friday.
September 12, 2025
From the Sparkasse Arena
From:
Thomas Debelyak
When the Foxes from Bolzano meet the Bulls from Salzburg, a spectacle is guaranteed. The White and Red fans were all the more excited for Friday's league opener, which brought the reigning champions from the city of Mozart to the Sparkasse Arena. The two hot title favorites immediately engaged in a wild ride, which Salzburg ultimately won 4-3.
It was truly a rodeo ride for the Bolzano team on Friday evening, fielding their best team and sending Enrico Miglioranzi to the stands as a spare player. In the first period, the Foxes were still firmly in the saddle, skillfully leading the beast by the reins, and even setting the pace in the arena. The result: Cole Schneider scored his first league goal in a Foxes jersey to give them the lead – to the frenzied cheers of a good 3.000 fans in the stands.
But then the bull ride went into the second round – and almost brought down the previously impeccable tamer. Riding on the back of the serial champions, whose 629-time NHL star Michael Raffl was a real presence, the Foxes now staggered back and forth, conceding three goals in a row, the fourth being disallowed by video review. The magic of the first period had suddenly vanished, the thread was broken, and the Bolzano team's legs suddenly felt far too heavy – also because goalie Sam Harvey didn't exude the confidence one would expect from him.
Bolzano shows fighting spirit
But the Bolzano team has heart. Suddenly, a jolt went through the team, and their grip on the bull's saddle suddenly tightened again. First, Luca Frigo reduced the deficit to 2-3 (36th minute), then Mark Barberio made it 3-4 (56th minute) – and right up until the very end, Bolzano still hoped to emerge victorious from this wild ride. The impact was all the harder when the Foxes were smashed to the ground after 60 minutes.The evening in fast motion
| Hello Cole | The big signing is Bolzano's first goalscorer of the championship! Schneider deflects a Gildon shot in the style of a true striker to make it 1-0 – and hears his name roared loudly throughout the arena for the first time (10'). |
| Salzburg x 3 | Evenly matched, if not better, in the first period, HCB completely lost the plot in the middle period. The result? Salzburg scored three times! First, St. Denis poked a Nienhuis shot, which somehow rolled through Harvey, into the empty net (22nd minute). Then, Thaler, who was excellently set up, scored from the slot (26th minute). Before Gesson first eluded Seed and then caught Harvey between his suspenders (29th minute). |
| Frigo special | Salzburg saw for themselves that shorthanded goals are Luca Frigo's specialty this evening. The Bolzano veteran launched a counterattack and effortlessly fired the puck into the top corner – a magnificent goal to make it 2-3 (36'). |
| No comeback | In the final period, events unfolded rapidly: First, McClure had the equalizer on his stick, but hit the post, then St. Denis made it 4-2 after a fine power-play combination (49th minute), before Barberio, also on the power play, brought Bozen back to 3-4 (56th minute). But that was all they could manage. |
Bolzano now has a one-week break, with the Foxes visiting Vorarlberg next Friday. The other South Tyrolean team had reason to celebrate this evening: HC Pustertal celebrated a landslide victory in Innsbruck.
HC Bozen – Red Bull Salzburg 3:4
HSBC: Harvey (Vallini); Barberio-Samuelsson, Gildon-Seed, Valentine-DiPerna, Larcher; Gersich-Bradley-Gazley, DiGiacinto-Pollock-Cole Schneider, Frank-Misley-Brunner, Frigo-Mantenuto-McClure, MarchettiCoach: Kleinendorst
RBS: Tolvanen (Kickert); Robertson-Corcoran, Nienhuis-Lewington, Stephens-Hörl, Gesson-Kirchebner; Thomas Raffl-Nissner-Peter Schneider, Michael Raffl-St. Denis-Thaler, Schreier-Baltram-Kraus, Böhm-Auer-Lanzinger
Coach: Viveiros
Gates: 1:0 Cole Schneider (9.51), 1:1 Travis St. Denis (21.20), 1:2 Lucas Thaler (25.03), 1:3 Adrian Gesson (28.26), 2:3 Luca Frigo (35.55), 2:4 Travis St. Denis (48.02), 3:4 Mark Barberio (55.14)
Viewers: 2.928
ICE Hockey League
HC Innsbruck – HC Pustertal 1:8 (click here for the report)Goals: 0:1 Rueschoff (7.45), 0:2 Bowlby (17.44), 0:3 Bowlby (22.03), 0:4 Bardreau (25.03), 1:4 Owre (29.14), 1:5 Saracino (32.47), 1:6 Bardreau (36.46), 1:7 Bardreau (47.24), 1:8 Bowlby (57.43)
Audience: 2.300
Ferencvaros Budapest – Villacher SV 2:4
Goals: 0:1 Hutchinson (1.10), 0:2 Wallenta (4.14), 1:2 Kestila (7.18), 1:3 Uschan (13.30), 1:4 Scherbak (49.44), 2:4 Bengtsson (56.22)
Audience: 1.243
EC KAC – AV Fehervar 4:0
Goals: 1-0 Schwinger (1.42), 2-0 Sablattnig (22.48), 3-0 Petersen (23.14)
Audience: 3.930
Black Wings Linz – Pioneers Vorarlberg 5:2
Goals: 1:0 St-Amant (00.58), 2:0 Barron (16.13), 3:0 Knott (23.54), 4:0 Lebler (26.21), 4:1 Metzler (47.12), 4:2 Maier (52.13), 5:2 Lebler (56.21)
Audience: 4.280
Olimpija Ljubljana – Vienna Capitals 8-1
Goals: 0:1 Gazzola (7.11), 1:1 Polei (9.16), 2:1 Mahkovec (27.00), 3:1 Halbert (33.42), 4:1 Sabolic (37.00), 5:1 Brennan (45.48), 6:1 Simsic (53.18), 7:1 Polei (54.11), 8:1 Sabolic (56.29)
Audience: 2.873
Table
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. HC Pustertal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8:1 | 3 |
| 1. Olimpija Ljubljana | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8:1 | 3 |
| 3. EC Klagenfurt | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 |
| 4. Linz | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:2 | 3 |
| 5. EC Villach | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 3 |
| 6. EC Salzburg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 3 |
| 7. Graz99ers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 |
| 8. HCB South Tyrol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3:4 | 0 |
| 9. Ferencvarosi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:4 | 0 |
| 10. Vorarlberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:5 | 0 |
| 11. Fehervar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:4 | 0 |
| 12. HC Innsbruck | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:8 | 0 |
| 12. Vienna Capitals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:8 | 0 |
Confirm the activation link in our email to verify your account and write comments.
Resend activation link
Complete your profile information to write comments.
Edit Profile
Edit Profile
You have to sign into use the comment function.
Comments (0)