Thomas Pisetta and the Unterland Cavaliers surprised everyone. © EKZ/Radlwimmer

The Underland Madness: Victory against the Champions

On Saturday evening, the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL) saw a result that even the greatest optimists would hardly have believed possible: The Unterland Cavaliers celebrated a resounding victory against the reigning champions from Zell am See.

29 November 2025

From: leo

Sport writes the most beautiful, incredible, and surprising stories. This statement was proven once again on Saturday. The Unterland Cavaliers, who had won just three of their 18 games this season, defeated the Zell am See Ice Bears, who had recently strung together six consecutive wins and moved up to third place, by a score of 5-1. It was the Unterland Cavaliers' first victory in Salzburg in almost two years.

"A win against the champions is something to be proud of. I believe we've seen an upward trend since the coaching change. We deserved more in the last few games. Today we rewarded ourselves," said captain Tobias Brighenti after the match. In front of over 2.000 spectators, the visitors' first line of forwards, featuring Erik and Marek Potsinok and Viktor Eriksson, became the match-winners. They scored the first three goals in the 11th, 20th, and 31st minutes. Marek Potsinok scored the first two, while his brother Erik was responsible for the third.

Thomas Galimberti scored the goal. © EKZ/Radlwimmer

Christian Jennes briefly rekindled the home team's hopes at the start of the final period, but Thomas Galimberti and Marek Potsinok's hat trick quickly extinguished them. Eriksson provided the assists for all four goals scored by the twin brothers.

Goal fireworks in Jesenice

Fans in Jesenice witnessed a wild game, where the Ritten Buam ultimately lost 5-6. Ritten led 1-0 and then 3-2 thanks to goals from Brett Welychka, Jake Crespi, and Marco Insam, but Jesenice turned the deficit into a 5-3 lead. With three and a half minutes remaining, Brandon Alderson brought the South Tyroleans back within one goal, before Nejc Burgar scored the decisive 6-4 goal just 70 seconds later. Leonardo Felicetti's goal to make it 5-6 with a minute and a half left was merely a consolation.

Simon Kostner & Co. returned home empty-handed. © Matias Demsar

Further east, HC Gherdëina also came away empty-handed: The Furies were defeated 3-6 by second-placed Sisak. New coach Marcel Skokan saw his team trailing 0-2 early on. Luke Moncada scored in the 15th minute, which seemed to jolt the Furies into action. They then had numerous chances to equalize at 2-2. Instead, Sisak scored to make it 3-1. In the second and third periods, the Furies managed to reduce the deficit to 2-4 and 3-5 respectively through goals from Hannes Kasslatter and Adam Brady, but it wasn't enough to secure any points.

Alps Hockey League:

EK Zell am See – Unterland Cavaliers 1:5
Goals: 0:1 Marek Potsinok (11.35), 0:2 Marek Potsinok (19.37), 0:3 Erik Potsinok (30.19), 1:3 Jennes (41.45), 1:4 Galimberti (49.49), 1:5 Marek Potsinok (51.26)
Audience: 2011

Jesenice – Rittner Buam 6:5
Goals: 0:1 Welychka (4.44), 1:1 Sodja Zalokar (5.21), 2:1 Svetina (8.47), 2:2 Crespi (19.11), 2:3 Insam (21.08), 3:3 Svetina (26.29), 4:3 Zajc (35.17), 5:3 Slivnik (51.21), 5:4 Alderson (56.21), 6:4 Burgar (57.31), 6:5 Felicetti (58.36)
Audience: 280

KHL Sisak – HC Gherdëina 6:3
Goals: 1:0 Juric (2.17), 2:0 Panasenko (9.16), 2:1 Moncada (14.45), 3:1 Malenica (18.39), 4:1 Idzan (32.07), 4:2 Kasslatter (48.22), 5:2 Yeob (50.34), 5:3 Brady (52.53), 6:3 Larionov's (59.32)
Audience: 1724

HC Asiago – EC Kitzbühel 3:4 nP
Goals: 1-0 Rigoni (7:13), 1-1 Bretschneider (9:48), 1-2 Bretschneider (15:20), 1-3 Bretschneider (44:24), 2-3 Valentini (54:12), 3-3 Gios (57:10), decisive penalty: Crnkic
Audience: 1920

SG Cortina – Red Bull Juniors 0:3
Goals: 0:1 Gesson (29.33), 0:2 Kogler (35.15), 0:3 Böhm (48.53)
Audience: 230

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