Only Alex Egger (front) was able to defeat HCG goalie Pauli Hofer (hidden). © Antonello

A brave man from Val Gardena stands in the way of the knights

Pauli Hofer, 22 years old and from St. Christina. You should remember this personality. It was he who dominated the duel between the Unterland Cavaliers and HC Gröden. Aside from that, there were all South Tyrolean victories to celebrate on AlpsHL Thursday.

23 November 2023

From the WürthArena in Neumarkt

HC Gherdëina won the most explosive duel of the 18th round, namely the one against the Unterland Cavaliers. The Furies triumphed 2-1 at the end of a hard-fought game. However, the celebrated hero of Val Gardena was not one of the two goalscorers, but rather the young goalie.

After his sporting training in Regensburg, Pauli Hofer had to wait a long time before he received the trust he longed for in his homeland. But this season the time has come – and he pays it back down to the last cent. On Thursday, Val Gardena's new number one hexed his team to victory with countless great reflexes. Although his first shutout was canceled in the final stages, 31 shots saved and a catch rate of almost 97% speak volumes.

Phantom Gate is a topic of conversation

However, it should also be noted that Hofer had the necessary luck time and time again. Twice the puck hit the post after a Unterlandler shot, once the puck was even in the goal, but the goal was disallowed. A shot from Michael Sullmann in the starting third bounced off Hofer's pad against the inner goal bracket and from there back onto the ice, but the referees had limited visibility and allowed the game to continue. All in all, the Cavs acted too harmlessly in the end and had no penetration. Coach Olli Hällfors had had many individual discussions over the past few days, but there was no immediate effect from the fourth defeat in a row.



On the other hand, Val Gardena seemed much more relaxed. In the 1-0, Samuel Moroder took advantage of Unterland's current penalty-killing weakness, and in the 2-0, Anthony De Luca shot the disc past the otherwise good Tizian Giovanelli into the net. Alex Egger's goal eight minutes before the end could not prevent Val Gardena's fifth win in the sixth away game in a row.

Ritchie makes Meran cheer again

They have an even more impressive series Rittner Buam be booked. They equaled master Jesenice's season record with their seventh win en suite. This time, Tray Tuomie's team brought the Fassa Falcons to their knees 5-2 after a significant increase in performance in the final third. Canadian Ethan Szypula scored his first brace in the Rittner jersey during the successful comeback, and Simon Kostner also scored twice.

Ritten's Ethan Szypula (r.) scored twice against Fassa for the first time. © Max Pattis

In addition to Ritten, he also climbs HC Meran inexorably up the table. The Eagles inflicted their eleventh (!) defeat in a row on the second representative team of the KAC with a score of 5:2. The outstanding player for the Kurstadters was once again number 10, Nolan Ritchie. His commitment is increasingly proving to be a real grab for the gold mine. He collected his scorer points numbers 16 to 29 on his 32th appearance. Ritchie scored three goals himself, and he had his trowel in play for another.

At the same time as the Meraners appeared in Klagenfurt Broncos around 100 kilometers further southeast, we arrived in Celje for the first time ever. It was a successful premiere as Vipiteno won 4-2. They were the better team throughout the game, but missed many scoring opportunities and kept the hosts afloat with unnecessary penalties. In the end, however, the deserved away win was on the scoreboard, which is primarily thanks to the unleashed Justin Maylan, who was involved in all four goals. For Wipptal it was the first win after two defeats in a row.

The results at a glance:

Unterland Cavaliers – HC Gröden 1:2
Goals: 0:1 Moroder (10.32), 0:2 De Luca (28.56), 1:2 Egger (51.43)
Audience: 270

Rittner Buam – Fassa Falcons 5:2
Goals: 0:1 Deluca (17.13), 0:2 Sylwander (37.58), 1:2 Simon Kosnter (39.39), 2:2 Julian Kostner (41.09), 3:2 Szypula (44.50), 4:2 Szypuła (59.22 ), 5:2 Simon Kostner (59.48)
Viewers:

KAC Future Team – HC Meran 2:5
Goals: 1:0 Lam (3.11), 1:1 Ritchie (11.31), 1:2 Gellon (12.11), 2:2 Slivnik (12.35), 2:3 Ritchie (26.56), 2:4 McNally (58.40), 2:5 Ritchie (59.24)
Audience: 112

HK Celje – Wipptal Broncos 2:4
Goals: 0:1 Soraruf (1.38), 1:1 Mintautiskis (5.16), 1:2 Topatigh (11.43), 2:2 Secen (34.22), 2:3 Zecchetto (45.27), 2:4 Maylan (59.12)
Audience: 200

EK Zell am See – SG Cortina Hafro 2:5
Goals: 0:1 Carozza (0.34), 0:2 Parini (2.25), 0:3 Lacedelli (19.56), 0:4 Carozza (23.12), 1:4 Ban (31.53), 2:4 Wilenius (44.08), 2:5 Carozza (47.41)
Audience: 1.209

EC Kitzbühel – EC Bregenzerwald 3:7
Goals: 0:1 Hämmerle (18.57), 0:2 Lipsbergs (20.49), 1:2 Niemelä (23.11), 1:3 Hintermann (31.00), 1:4 Lipsbergs (32.55), 1:5 Schlögl (36.23), 1:6 Embrich (38.38), 1:7 Wernicke (43.02), 2:7 Lehtonen (43.49), 3:7 Niemelä (47.23)
Audience: 552

Silver Wings Linz – Red Bull Hockey Juniors 0:3
Goals: 0:1 Vinzens (18.31), 0:2 Wurzer (46.51), 0:3 Cernik (58.56)
Audience: 132