Jakob Rabanser (left) once again showed an outstanding performance © Oskar Brunner

Vipiteno rages: The Broncos win again

What the hell is going on with the Wipptal Broncos? In seven of the eight playoff games so far, the Wild Horses left the ice as winners and now have one foot in the final. The move in could be confirmed as early as Thursday.

March 26, 2024

From: none

The Wipptal fairy tale continues. After an already outstanding season, the Broncos continue to amaze in the playoffs. In the 4th game of the semi-final series against the Rittner Buam, the blue-whites won again 4-2 and are only one win away from the final.

Actually there was no need for a separate match report for the game on Tuesday. It would be enough to copy the one from the last two encounters and change it minimally. The Buam took the lead again, the Broncos equalized again and ultimately won 4-2. However, it's not quite that simple.

Both teams started offensively and wanted to take the lead straight away. This was initially achieved by the guests from Klobenstein. After 13 minutes, Kevin Fink attacked from the left, drew two defenders towards him and then played at the right moment to Ethan Szypula, who scored to make it 1-0. Four minutes later the wild horses responded. Bryson Cianfrone passed the puck from the blue line to Davide Conci. He turned 4 degrees and equalized with his back hand to make it 180-1.

Conci mutates into a high-flyer

In the middle third the Buam struck again. Tobias Graf deflected a shot coming from the right right into the far corner of the cross and brought Kostner & Co. back in front. As has been seen so often in this series, the Broncos were not interested in this at all and in the 35th minute Conci equalized the deserved 2-2. After a shot from Alessio Niccolai, the number 54 deflected the puck into the net.

So the final third had to make the decision again. First, the Rittner missed a power play, which later took revenge. In the 47th minute the wild horses struck again in the majority. After a pass from James Livingston, one man was in exactly the right place: Davide Conci. The 28-year-old made it 3-2 with a rebound. The decision came 6 minutes before the end. After capturing a target in the attacking third, Fabian Gschreiner took the shot accurately and sent the hard rubber disc over the goal line again. The hosts secured their third win in a row.

The series will continue on Thursday. Then there will be the 20.00th meeting at 5 p.m. in the Arena Ritten. In their own four walls, the Rittner Buam will do everything they can to postpone their summer vacation.

AlpsHL, Tuesday's results:

Salzburg - Cortina 1:4
0:1 Toffoli (08.41), 1:1 Vinzenz (18.52), 1:2 Doherty (20.49), 1:3 Doherty (43.24), 1:4 Adami (58.46)
Audience: 135
Score in the series: 2:2

Wipptal Broncos - Rittner Buam 4:2
0:1 Szypula (12.50), 1:1 Conci (16.41), 1:2 Graf (22.45), 2:2 Conci (34.05), 3:2 Conci (46.12), 4:2 Gwickeler (54.07)
Audience: 627
Score in the series: 3:1