
HCB loanee Pascal Brunner made a decisive contribution to Merano's victory. © BK Photo
With Bolzano power towards the playoffs: Meran is dreaming again
HC Meran continues to provide great emotions for its fans this AlpsHL season. After recently slipping close to the abyss, people in the spa town are suddenly dreaming of the playoffs again. In addition to the Eagles, the Unterland Cavaliers also celebrated an immensely important victory on Thursday evening.
22. February 2024
From the MeranArena

From:
Alexander Foppa
One round before the end of the intermediate round is the last to stumble HC Meran jumped to second place with a 4-0 win against direct rivals Jesenice – and more than 800 spectators were thrilled.
With a real effort of will and an enormous amount of quality on the ice, the HCM kept their hopes for a post-season in the MeranArena alive. An eighth foreigner came from HC Bozen, Kris Pietroniro, and Pascal Brunner, a native of Meran, who was soon to make a decisive appearance. It was Brunner who set the course for victory shortly before the first break. From an acute angle he played the puck to the Jesenice goalie's pad, from which he then jumped over the line. Curious: In Bozen, Brunner only scored his debut goal in the 41st league game; in Meran he needed less than 20 minutes to score his first goal.
Pascal Brunner's curiosity
After that, the game remained competitive and balanced – until Nolan Ritchie came onto the stage. The second best scorer in the HCM and the entire league scored in the final third, first with a powerful shot, then after a surprise attack. Daniel Gellon finally made it 4-0 with an empty net goal.The most recently criticized Andrei Makarov was voted Man of the Match, fending off all 23 shots on the Merano goal and letting the Eagles continue to fly with his second shutout of the season. While Meran now needs two points on the last matchday in Val Gardena to qualify for the playoffs, the reigning champions from Slovenia are in third place and are facing an early exit.
For the HC Gherdëina At the end against the HCM it's all about the oft-quoted golden pineapple. The Furies secured group victory with a 4-2 win in Celje. The Ladin team, who were missing four top performers in Kevin Schulze, Matteo Luisetti, Diego Glück and Erwin De Nardin, certainly did not cover themselves with glory against the latecomers to the table. Goalie Pauli Hofer kept the HCG in the game for a long time. First Anthony DeLuca made it 1-1 with a shot from a very tight angle, and later Michael Sölva made it 2-2 with a blueliner. Only in the final minutes did Val Gardena take the lead for the first time: after a McGowan cross pass, DeLuca scored to make it 3-2, and a short time later he added his hat trick with an empty net goal.
The Cavs season continues
Next to Val Gardena is also underland fixed in the pre-playoffs. The Unterland team put in a strong performance at the Scola Stadium in Alba di Canazei, but had to fend for the liberating 3-1 victory until the end. Alex Egger gave the Cavs a deserved lead in the 22nd minute, but then the bottom-placed team from the Fassa Valley bravely held on. In the final phase, Davide Girardi and Aleksi Käyrä secured the away win. Unterland now moves into the next phase in second place.Goalie Florian Plattner (l.) led Ritten to victory with a catch rate of 92,7%. © Max Pattis
The Master Round went to intermediate round winners ride at home just for honor. Nevertheless, against EC Bregenzerwald he once again underlined that the Ritten Arena is a fortress. A weakened Tuomie team won 4-3 against Vorarlberg. Markus Spinell, Emiliano Valentini, Manuel Öhler and Kevin Fink turned a 0:2 and 2:3 deficit into a late 4:3 victory.
The Wipptal Broncos lost their chance for third place with a 2:4 defeat against the Red Bull Juniors. In the Salzburg Volksgarten, the home team initially dominated the game, the tide turned to 2-2 after Bryson Cianfrone's goal, but the now much better Broncos were unable to score any more goals. Instead, their table neighbors from Salzburg shot their way to victory.
Master round
Rittner Buam - EC Bregenzerwald 4:3Goals: 0:1 Lipsbergs (3.44), 0:2 Schlögl (7.46), 1:2 Spinell (11.35), 2:2 Valentini (34.01), 2:3 Embrich (41.25), 3:3 Öhler (51.54), 4:3 Fink (53.49)
Audience: 203
RB Juniors - Wipptal Broncos 4:2
Goals: 1:0 Krening (0.13), 1:1 Hackhofer (16.04), 2:1 Wimmer (28.23), 2:2 Cianfrone (36.00), 3:2 Schreiner (55.36), 4:2 Murnieks (59.22)
Audience: 73
EK Zell am See - SG Cortina 1:4
Goals: 0:1 De Zanna (14.55), 0:2 Lacedelli (46.02), 1:2 Artner (48.40), 1:3 Zardini Lacedelli (49.29), 1:4 Di Tomaso (59.39)
Audience: 2.209
SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Rittner Buam | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 36:21 | 27 |
2. SG Cortina | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 32:23 | 18 |
3. Salzburg II | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 27:18 | 16 |
4. Wipptal Broncos | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 26:29 | 12 |
5. Zell am See | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 16:34 | 10 |
6. Bregenzerwald | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 22:34 | 8 |
Qualification Group A
HC Meran - HDD Jesenice 4:0Goals: 1:0 Pascal Brunner (19.57), 2:0 Ritchie (41.13), 3:0 Ritchie (46.36), 4:0 Gellon (57.08)
Audience: 833
HK Celje - HC Gherdëina 2:4
Goals: 1:0 Jakupovic (18.39), 1:1 De Luca (24.42), 2:1 Grahut (27.49), 2:2 Sölva (35.33), 2:3 De Luca (57.57), 2:4 De Luca ( 59.40)
Audience: 350
SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. HC Gherdëina | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 33:19 | 20 |
2. HC Meran | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 25:26 | 15 |
3. Jesenice | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 20:27 | 13 |
4. HK Celje | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 30:29 | 11 |
5. Linz II | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 19:26 | 6 |
Qualification Group B
Fassa Falcons - Unterland Cavaliers 1:3Goals: 0:1 Egger (22.09), 0:2 Girardi (51.58), 1:2 Parmesani Abbott (58.00), 1:3 Käyrä (59.55)
Audience: 622
EC Kitzbühel - EHC Lustenau 4:0
Goals: 1:0 Rotter (29.18), 2:0 Lehtonen (33.23), 3:0 Fröwis (54.08), 4:0 Lehtonen (57.33)
Audience: 1.185
SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Kitzbuhel | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 36:21 | 22 |
2. Underland Cavaliers | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 24:25 | 17 |
3. Lustenau | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 28:25 | 13 |
4. Klagenfurt II | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 18:29 | 7 |
5. HC Fassa | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 26:32 | 5 |
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