The Ritten Buam suffered a derby defeat against Meran. © Max Pattis

Ritten drops points against Merano – Broncos in a goal-scoring spree

In the race for the Alps Hockey League Master Round, the Ritten Buam suffered a setback in Sunday evening's derby against HC Meran. The Wipptal Broncos and Unterland Cavaliers, on the other hand, each experienced a spectacular game.

04 January 2026

From: never/pm

Playing at home, the Ritten Buam suffered a 1-2 defeat. Especially considering Adler Kitzbühel's 3-4 loss against league leaders Red Bull Juniors, the blue-and-reds could have moved into the top 5 with a win over HC Meran – but their local rivals had other ideas. In the packed Ritten Arena, a hard-fought derby unfolded from the outset. Meran had a slight edge in scoring chances during the first period and came close to taking the lead, particularly through Patrick Tomasini (9th minute) and David Trivellato on the power play (13th minute).

The second period began with a hard-fought but even contest, although scoring chances were scarce, at least initially. Both teams defended well, and Colin Furlong and Andreas Bernard dealt with the few opportunities that arose. Meran then had their second power play. This time, the Eagles managed to establish themselves in front of the Ritten net, and after a deflected long-range shot by Daniel Gellon, Jakob Fuchs put away the rebound to make it 1-0 (34:33). Ritten looked for a quick response, but Bernard proved to be a tough goaltender, making saves against Manuel Öhler (36th minute) and repeatedly thwarting Ritten's first power play.

Merano defends cleverly – and scores

Meran played very well, defending solidly. Nevertheless, Ritten managed two excellent scoring chances in the slot: first by Leonardo Felicetti, whose shot slipped under Bernard but was cleared off the line (46th minute), and then by Manuel Öhler, who was again equalized by Bernard (49th minute). Even on the power play, Ritten couldn't find an equalizer, and Filip Cruseman made it 2-0 with an empty-net goal (58.51th, 1st minute). Although Robert Öhler managed to pull one back for Meran, assisted by Madsen (2th, 59.33rd minute), it was too little, too late to change the outcome of the game.

The Ritten Buam only managed to break through the Merano defense once. © Max Pattis

At the same time as Ritten and Merano, the Wipptal Broncos were also on the ice. At home, they celebrated a thrilling 4-3 victory over Jesenice. After 27 minutes, the South Tyroleans held a commanding 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Fabian Gschliesser, Paul Eisendle, Alex Zecchetto, and James Livingston, but found themselves under pressure in the final quarter. Rozle Bohic and Luc Slivnik, who scored twice, did manage to pull one back, but the Broncos held on to their one-goal lead until the final whistle. With their fourth win in five games, Wipptal climbed to seventh place in the standings, just five points behind Ritten.

Unterland fights back – setback for Val Gardena

The Unterland Cavaliers experienced a similar back-and-forth battle. In their away game in Cortina, Moritz Kaufmann gave them an early lead on the power play, but just seven minutes later the hosts were already ahead 2-1. The Cavs fought back and scored again on the power play through Erik Potsinok to make it 3-2. Jacob Stoffling seemed to have forced overtime with the score tied at 3-3 in the 57th minute, but Alexander Sullmann scored the game-winner with 24 seconds remaining, sparking jubilant celebrations for a 4-3 victory.

While the bottom-ranked team celebrated their first win after five consecutive losses, HC Gröden suffered a setback. Against fourth-placed Asiago, the Furies kept pace for a long time and even forced overtime. However, Ryan Valentini scored the winning goal for the home team after just 46 seconds, making it 3-2.

Alps Hockey League – Sunday's games

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – Adler Kitzbühel 4:3
Goals: 1-0 Gesson (4:53), 1-1 Engelhart (8:05), 1-2 Lippitsch (18:06), 2-2 Juhola (24:07), 2-3 Crnkic (25:31), 3-3 Oberhauser (33:55), 4-3 Lanzinger (48:04)
Audience: 120

Rittner Buam – HC Meran 1:2
Goals: 0:1 Fuchs (34.33), 0:2 Cruseman (58.51), 1:2 Robert Öhler (59.33)
Audience: 678

Wipptal Broncos – Jesenice 4:3
Goals: 1:0 Gschliesser (15.37), 2:0 Eisendle (22.08), 3:0 Zecchetto (24.58), 4:0 Livingston (26.56), 4:1 Bohinc (45.46), 4:2 Slivnik (53.14), 4:3 Slivnik (54.55)
Audience: 582

Zell am See – Bregenzerwald 4:2
Goals: 0:1 Laaksonen (10.16), 0:2 Metzler-Wagner (19.02), 1:2 Lahoda (29.46), 2:2 Coffman (36.33), 3:2 Tomazevic (38.05), 4:2 Reiner (39.47)
Audience: 2557

Asiago – HC Gröden 3:2 OT
Goals: 0:1 Esposito (1.40), 1:1 Valentini (31.59), 2:1 Johnson (34.20), 2:2 Biondi (43.46), 3:2 Valentini (60.46/OT)
Audience: 3000

Cortina – Unterland Cavaliers 3:4
Goals: 0-1 Kaufmann (3:38), 1-1 Pompanin (5:40), 2-1 Sanna (10:29), 2-2 Eriksson (12:32), 2-3 Potsinok (28:02), 3-3 Stoffling (56:14), 3-4 Sullmann (59:36)
Audience: 350