Val Gardena goalkeeper Claes Endre is in fantastic form. © Matthäus Kostner

Incredible victory: This man makes Val Gardena dream

HC Gherdeina celebrated a thrilling victory in the third quarterfinal match of the Alps Hockey League on Sunday evening. The Furies now lead the series again.

March 15, 2026

From: det

HC Gröden is one of the founding members of the Alps Hockey League. The Furies have been part of the international league for ten years, but HCG has never reached the semifinals. Now the Ladin team dreams of doing so more than ever: On Sunday, they celebrated a crazy 3-2 victory in the third quarterfinal against the Red Bull Juniors, putting Gröden ahead 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

If Sunday's victory has a name, it's Claes Endre. The Val Gardena goalkeeper repeatedly surpassed himself against the favorites from Salzburg, stopping 47 of 49 shots. That's a save percentage of 95,9 percent. The Swede, who only joined HCG in January, is increasingly becoming the hero and the Fury's great hope, after already delivering outstanding performances in recent games.

Two goals conceded in the final seconds

But Gröden also delivered a mentally strong performance. Why? Until 124 seconds before the end, the team around the again brilliantly playing Vlastimil Dostalek led 2-0 and looked like the certain winner. But then the Young Bulls struck twice with ruthless efficiency: Jesse Juhola (58th minute) and Florian Lanzinger seven seconds before the final buzzer secured the 2-2 draw.

Scored the winning goal: Vlastimil Dostalek. © Matthäus Kostner

The momentum was therefore firmly on Salzburg's side, but Gröden showed nerves of steel. The Furies forced overtime with a power play, where Dostalek landed the decisive blow just 83 seconds in.

Val Gardena takes a 2-1 lead in this incredibly tight series. The action continues on Tuesday when the quarterfinals return to Selva di Val Gardena. HC Merano (who can secure their place in the semifinals against Asiago) and the Wipptal Broncos (currently trailing Zell am See 1-2) will also be back in action.

AlpsHL – Quarterfinals, Game 3 (Best-of-7)

Red Bull Hockey Juniors – HC Gherdeina 2:3 aet
Goals: 0:1 Vozovik (29.56), 0:2 Schiavone (36.54), 1:2 Juhola (57.56), 2:2 Lanzinger (59.53), 2:3 Dostalek (61.23)
Audience: 148
Score in the series: 1:2