Unterland and Meran offered a tough fight. © Vanna Antonello

Merano has done it again! Wild comeback in Neumarkt

The start of the season in the Alps Hockey League is dominated by HC Meran. The Eagles were hopelessly behind on the second match day, but then turned things around. Ritten also had cause to celebrate on Thursday, but Val Gardena slipped into another bitter defeat.

September 26, 2024

From the Würtarena in Neumarkt

The cheers of the Meran fans echoed through the small Neumarkt ice arena long after the final whistle. They were eyewitnesses to the next memorable performance of their HCM. The rest of the almost 400 spectators, however, walked into the Unterland night puzzling. The Cavaliers had previously inexplicably given away a 3-0 lead and given Meran their second win of the season, the second after a comeback, the second in overtime. The spa town team won 4-3.

The duel underland against Merano was for long stretches one of the swirling ice hockey talents from the south against the Asian power of the Burggräfler. For the Cavaliers, who have the second youngest squad in the league with an average age of 21,75 years, the import players from Latvia and Canada remained pale, but the youth around Alex Curti, Moritz Kaufmann, Alex Egger and Co. swirled around. For Meran, the Japanese Teruto Nakajima and Riku Ishida provided entertainment.

Meran was superior from the start, but was weak in finishing for a long time. As a result, the Unterland team went into the first break with a flattering 1-0 lead. Gabriel Galassiti scored from distance to make it 1-0 after Meran's Chad Pietroniro had missed two great chances.

The Pietroniros do it

But things were to get even tougher for the Eagles, as Michael Sullmann and Kristian Samitis extended their lead in the middle period. Sullmann deflected a shot from 18-year-old Curti into the net, the Latvian completed a counterattack over 19-year-old Alessio Guerra and didn't make HCM goalie Rudy Rigoni look good. Immediately before the 3-0, Cavs goalie Tizian Giovanelli outdid himself in a one-on-one with Nakajima. The Japanese HCM import was to celebrate a little later, however, when he pushed a pass from the back of the goal by the strong rookie Giovanni Mandruzzato over the line.

Should Meran's next successful comeback now follow? The answer: Yes! First Patrick Madsen brought the Eagles to 2:3, then Riku Ishida hit the inside post, before Chad Pietroniro made it 3:3 in the power play in the final minute and sent both teams into overtime. His brother Massimo Pietroniro did everything there. First he slammed the rubber against the crossbar, and a little later he beat Giovanelli from close range. The spectators rubbed their eyes in disbelief: Meran had done it again! Only on Saturday they had converted a 1:4 into a 5:4 against Ritten.

Val Gardena goes swimming again

There was also a déjà vu for the HC Val Gardena – but in a negative sense. After the 1:5 defeat in the opening match against Kitzbühel, the Furies also lost by the same result in their local duel with Cortina.

Mikael Saha in the slot and a deflection from Riccardo Lacedelli put the Ampezzo team 2-0 ahead early on. Captain Simon Pitschieler, who was in the right place after a Laitinen pass, then brought the home team to 1-2, but Cortina continued to whirl. Marco Sanna, a double goal scorer and Saha again, definitely put the runners-up on the road to victory. Val Gardena now has to lick its wounds before the long trip to Croatia to KHL Sisak.

Master, however, can take a deep breath rideThe boys scored their first win of the season with a 3:1 win in the top match against Zell am See. Marco Insam in the power play, Ethan Szypula with a rebound and Eric Hjorth with a dream goal shortly before the end shot Ritten to a home victory. The Eisbären had created tension with the interim 1:1 through Alexander Lahoda.

The results at a glance:

Unterland - Meran 3:4 aet
Goals: 1:0 Galassiti (7.45), 2:0 Michael Sullmann (23.41), 3:0 Samitis (31.09), 3:1 Nakajima (36.43), 3:2 Madsen (39.31), 3:3 Chad Pietroniro (59.36 ), 3:4 Massimo Pietroniro (62.58)
Audience: 370

Val Gardena - Cortina 1:5
Goals: 0:1 Saha (5.52), 0:2 Lacedelli (6.40), 1:2 Pitschieler (19.07), 1:3 Sanna (34.46), 1:4 Sanna (44.39), 1:5 Saha (53.13)
Audience: 248

Ritten - Zell am See 3:1
Goals: 1:0 Insam (4.45), 1:1 Lahoda (45.53), 2:1 Szypula (46.46), 3:1 Hjorth (57.56)
Audience: 253

Jesenice - Sisak 3:2 aet
Goals: 1:0 Slivnik (10.36), 1:1 Dobric (19.06), 2:1 Valtola (27.55), 2:2 Canic (48.00), 3:2 Valtola (64.15)
Audience: 350

Salzburg II - Kitzbuhel 1:8
Goals: 0:1 Schmid (6.26), 0:2 Ketonen (15.25), 0:3 Södergren (19.52), 0:4 Christiansen (21.23), 0:5 Christiansen (26.09), 0:6 Ren (31.23), 0:7 Christiansen (32.16), 0:8 Fröwis (55.38), 1:8 Assavolyuk (59.55)
Audience: 110