HC Gröden suffered another clear defeat. © Matthaeus Kostner

A clear defeat: Val Gardena has to make up the time

HC Gherdëina missed their chance to advance to the Alps Hockey League semifinals. The Val Gardena team suffered another clear defeat on Sunday evening against the Salzburg Young Bulls.

March 22, 2026

From: dl

After Friday's 2-9 defeat, the Furies suffered another loss two days later, falling 2-6 to the Red Bull Hockey Juniors at their home arena, Pranives Stadium. The best-of-seven series is now tied 3-3. The decisive game will be played Tuesday evening (7:19.15 p.m.) in Salzburg.

No sooner had the fans settled in than Stephan Deluca, set up by Simon Pitschieler, appeared in front of Luca Haitzmann, who managed to make the save. Salzburg fared better at the other end – and in three stages: After a defensive lapse, the puck fell to Luca Kogler, who scored from close range. Shortly afterward, Maximilian Wurzer converted a breakaway, before Maximilian Kirchebner put away a rebound.

Gröden suffered another clear defeat against the young bulls. © Matthaeus Kostner

After that, the Fury missed two golden opportunities: Both Luke Moncada and Dmitri Vozovik failed to convert one-on-one chances against Haitzmann. This proved costly: Wurzer found himself unmarked in the slot and fired a shot into the top corner. However, the home team's hopes were rekindled shortly before the end of the period when Vlastimil Dostalek fired a shot directly after a pass from Schiavone.

Far too many penalty minutes

The start of the second period was also extremely disastrous for HCG: First, Nick Maul scored on the power play from a clear offside position to make it 5-1, then Vlastimil Dostalek received a match penalty for a head check, before Vozovik missed a breakaway. And then Luca Auer increased the lead to 6-1 with a deflection. The Fury spent the remaining six minutes of the second period shorthanded. In total, they racked up 51 penalty minutes. At the start of the final period, Gröden's goal by Vozovik was merely a consolation.

AlpsHL: Playoff quarterfinals, game 6

HC Val Gardena – Red Bull Hockey Juniors 2:6
0:1 Kogler (03:47), 0:2 Wurzer (04:33), 0:3 Kirchebner (06:29), 0:4 Schuster (15:41), 1:4 Dostalek (19:00), 1:5 Maul (22:35), 1:6 Auer (29:58), 2:6 Vozovik (42:10)
Audience: 961
Score in the series: 3:3