Asiago's players (in white) celebrate wildly, Ritten goalkeeper Colin Furlong (right) can't believe it. © Diego Barbieri

Humiliation in the final: Ritten's nightmare in Milan

The grand final for the Italian championship title, for the coveted Scudetto, turned into a nightmare for Ritten. The boys suffered a real debacle in Milan.

11 January 2026

From: det

The Ritten Buam have already lifted the Scudetto six times. On Sunday, they aimed to achieve their seventh title in the brand-new Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena. But the match in Milan's Olympic Stadium, in front of 4.300 fans, turned into a nightmare: The Buam were utterly thrashed by HC Asiago in the IHL Serie A final, suffering a 3-8 defeat.

The Ritten/Renon team had never lost by such a margin this season. Against their league rivals from Asiago, almost everything that could go wrong did. A series of defeats, bad luck, and mishaps – this phrase best describes the evening for captain Simon Kostner and his teammates. Asiago, on the other hand, played brilliantly and crowned themselves Italian champions for the ninth time. For the proud club from Veneto, which was facing ruin after its expulsion from the ICE Hockey League in the summer, this title is a particularly sweet victory.

Rudy Rigoni in the Asiago goal put in a superb performance. © Diego Barbieri

The duel between the two AlpsHL teams was practically decided after just seven (!) minutes. Asiago was already leading 4-0. Stellati's opening goal was emblematic: In a scramble, Ritten's Marco Insam tried to clear the puck, but instead hit Filippo Rigoni II's stick – and from there the puck slid past goalie Colin Furlong and into the net.

Asiago's top trio makes Ritten dizzy

While Ritten's defense often looked like a bunch of startled chickens that evening, Asiago's star line ran riot. Ryan Valentini (the AlpsHL's top scorer with 57 points), Nicholas Porco (the third-highest scorer in the AlpsHL with 45 points), and Lucas Chiodo (the fifth-highest scorer in the AlpsHL with 44 points) completely bewildered the Buam.

Lucas Chiodo of Asiago shone with two goals. © Serena Fantini

The trio's haul at the end of the evening: a total of eleven scorer points! Porco shone with a hat trick and an assist, Valentini set up four goals, Chiodo scored two goals and provided another assist.

Two Asiago South Tyroleans celebrate

There was never any real tension in the Olympic Arena. Only once did the traveling Ritten fans have a glimmer of hope when the Buam (Ritten/Ritten/Ritten) closed the gap to 3-6 in the second period with a quickfire double from Brandon Alderson (37th minute) and Marco Insam (39th minute). But practically immediately, Asiago's Tommaso Traversa made it 7-3 (40th minute), effectively sealing the victory.

Incidentally, two South Tyroleans can also be happy about the trophy at Asiago: The youngsters Nathan Garau (from Bolzano) and Raffael Nitz (from Brixen) contributed their part to the success in the final.

HC Asiago – Rittner Buam 8:3

Asiago: Rudy Rigoni (Santangelo); Casetti-Gios, Calisti-Bellini, Parini-Filippo Rigoni I, Forte-Andrea Rigoni; Traversa-Johnson-Magnabosco, Porco-Chiodo-Valentini, Alessandro Parco-Filippo Rigoni II-Garau, Miglioranzi-Stevan-Nitz
Coach: John Parco

Ritten: Furlong (Plattner); March-Crespi, Marzolini-Insam, Tauferer-Uffelmann, Spornberger; Welychka-Kostner-Alderson, Manuel Öhler-Cuglietta-Felicetti, Fink-Robert Öhler-Alex Oberrauch, Graf-Innerhofer-Max Oberrauch
Coach: MacQueen

Gates: 1:0 Filippo Rigoni II (2.22), 2:0 Chiodo (3.57), 3:0 Porco (6.36), 4:0 Filippo Rigoni II (6.44), 4:1 Fink (15.58), 5:1 Porco (23.58), 6:1 Porco (31.45), 6:2 Alderson (36.05), 6:3 Insam (38.56), 7:3 Traversa (39.28), 8:3 Chiodo (46.00)

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