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Eddie Pasquale was not a reliable presence in goal in Slovenia. © Filip Barbalic
Pasquale makes a mistake: Pustertal has to relinquish its lead in the standings.
Eddie Pasquale is often HC Falkensteiner Pustertal's ace in the hole. But in the top match against Olimpija Ljubljana, the Canadian showed uncharacteristic weaknesses. The Slovenians capitalized on this and reclaimed the top spot in the standings with a victory on Wednesday evening.
26 November 2025
From: leo
With 36:24 shots on goal, a clear advantage in scoring chances, and a clear edge in possession, everything seemed to point to a Wolves victory against second-placed Ljubljana. Ultimately, however, the Green Dragons secured the crucial 6:3 win, propelling them to the top of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL) standings. From Pusterbach's perspective, the reasons for this bitter defeat are easy to pinpoint: the defense – and thus also goaltender Pasquale – made some glaring errors, while the offense lacked composure in front of goal.
Three fatal minutes in the second period proved decisive. During this time, the Slovenians, missing their top forwards Nicolai Meyer and Zach Boychuck, scored three goals – two of which were extremely unlucky. For the 3-1 goal, Luca Zanatta inadvertently deflected the puck into his own net with his glove, before Pasquale lost his balance on a Kumanovic shot and was caught out at the near post. Coach Jason Jaspers called a timeout – and this effectively roused his players.
Suddenly weak away from home?
They upped the tempo, putting Ljubljana goalkeeper Lukas Horak under constant pressure, and pulled within one goal at 3-4 through Zanatta and Ierullo. But that was as close as they got, even though the Wolves had enough chances for a spectacular comeback. The game was decided when Pasquale made his third blunder of the evening, letting a MacWilliam shot from a tight angle slip through his hands.
Mikael Frycklund & Co. had a tough time. © Filip Barbaric
Pustertal, who were the best away team in the league before the game, suffered their fourth consecutive away defeat. Given this run of bad luck, the upcoming matches come at just the right time. Within seven days, they have home games against the Vienna Capitals (Friday), Pioneers Vorarlberg (Sunday), and Klagenfurter AC (Wednesday). Meanwhile, HC Bozen celebrated a highly important victory against the Black Wings Linz.
The highlights
| Who else? | The game proceeds without any notable highlights – until Brennan takes matters into his own hands in the tenth minute, fires a shot from the blue line, and scores his 14th goal of the season. Pasquale's view is obstructed, yet he still doesn't cover himself in glory. |
| Happy balance | HCP is trying hard – and gets a well-deserved equalizer. Osmanski's one-timer misses the goal, but the puck rebounds off the boards in front of the net, where Ticar puts it into the empty goal. |
| What's going on here? | Within three minutes, the Slovenians escape to a 4-1 lead. First, Simsic deflects the puck in an unstoppable way, then Zanatta puts it into his own net with his glove, before Kumanovic catches the again not entirely blameless Pasquale at the near post. |
| Pustertal doesn't give up | Zanatta redeemed himself shortly after the score went to 1-4, scoring a free shot from the slot that found the top corner. Midway through the final period, Ierullo's screened shot rekindled Pusterer's hopes of victory. |
| That's it | After Pasquale makes a strong save against Sabolic, he looks hapless again on MacWilliam's follow-up shot. Former Wolf Petan seals the deal with an empty-net shot. |
Olimpija Ljubljana – HC Pustertal 6:3
HKO: Horak (Kolin); Masic-Brennan, MacWilliam-Kirichenko, Cosic-Gregorc, Crnovic; Pance-Quince-Sabolic, Sodja-Petan-Mahkovec, Simsic-Bericic-Mehle, Kumanovic-Bukovec-Bohinc.coach: cooper
HCP: Pasquale (Rabanser); Lauridsen-Di Tomaso, Zanatta-Blum, Glira-Osmanski, Almquist; Rueschoff-Bardreau-Saracino, Ierullo-Ticar-Lipon, Bowlby-Frycklund-Purdeller, Lobis-Andergassen-Mantinger.
coach: Jasper
Gates: 1:0 Brennan (9.03), 1:1 Ticar (14.46), 2:1 Simsic (27.56), 3:1 Simsic (28.17), 4:1 Kumanovic (30.48), 4:2 Zanatta (32.03), 4:3 Ierullo (49.22), 5:3 MacWilliam (52.17), 6:3 Petan (58.45)
Viewers: 3369
ICE Hockey League:
Black Wings Linz - HC Bozen 3:6Goals: 1-0 Knott (8:10), 1-1 Schneider (8:46), 2-1 Würschl (14:44), 3-1 Gaffal (20:19), 3-2 DiGiacinto (24:32), 3-3 McClure (26:32), 3-4 Pollock (39:44), 3-5 McClure (55:02), 3-6 Gersich (59:16)
Audience: 3742
HC Innsbruck - Klagenfurter AC 9:6
Goals: 0:1 Unterweger (00.24), 0:2 Teves (00.55), 0:3 Jensen Aabo (6.26), 1:3 Bär (9.38), 2:3 Rappold (13.40), 2:4 Kempe (16.58), 3:4 Wilkins (26.03), 4:4 Kudla (33.19), 5:4 Corbeil (39.52), 6:4 Wilkins (41.57), 7:4 Owre (43.37), 7:5 Teves (44.43), 7:6 Teves (49.45), 8:6 Coatta (58.04), 9:6 Corbeil (59.53)
Audience: 1800
Vienna Capitals - Fehérvár AV 3:1
Goals: 0:1 Bartalis (17.33), 1:1 Mitch Hults (19.13), 2:1 Bourque (29.46), 3:1 Franklin (50.44)
Audience: 3890
Pioneers Vorarlberg - Villacher SV 5:4
Goals: 1:0 Gallant (4.47), 1:1 Rebernig (8.54), 2:1 Macierzynski (27.54), 3:1 Maier (32.27), 4:1 Macierzynski (39.49), 5:1 Wempe (40.53), 5:2 Strong (45.35), 5:3 Maxa (45.56), 5:4 Helewka (58.36)
Spectators: 1263
Red Bull Salzburg – Graz 99ers 2:5
Goals: 1-0 Thomas Raffl (23:30), 1-1 Schiechl (28:18), 1-2 Vela (31:31), 2-2 Thaler (47:37), 2-3 Kainz (50:55), 2-4 Currie (58:16), 2-5 Huber (59:03)
Audience: 3319
The table
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Olimpija Ljubljana | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 100:68 | 43 |
| 2. HC Pustertal | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 73:55 | 42 |
| 3. Graz99ers | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 74:51 | 41 |
| 4. EC Klagenfurt | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 71:60 | 39 |
| 5. HCB South Tyrol | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 79:53 | 37 |
| 6. EC Villach | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 68:60 | 34 |
| 7. EC Salzburg | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 62:53 | 33 |
| 8. Ferencvarosi | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 59:67 | 30 |
| 9. Linz | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 66:70 | 27 |
| 10. Fehervar | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 44:69 | 27 |
| 11. Vienna Capitals | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 53:65 | 24 |
| 12. HC Innsbruck | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 60:96 | 18 |
| 13. Vorarlberg | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 44:86 | 16 |
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