Kaltern celebrated a convincing home victory. © Manfred Sinn

Kaltern pulls away in the Master Round as well.

Who can stop SV Kaltern this season? After their dominant regular season victory, the Pike are also running away with the Italian Hockey League (IHL) Master Round. They celebrated their third win in three games on Saturday evening. HC Eppan also had reason to celebrate.

24 January 2026

From: leo

The Raiffeisen Arena hosted a rematch of the Italian Cup semi-final on Saturday. Two weeks ago, the Pike gave their opponents Varese no chance, winning 8-3. And this time, the reigning champions made short work of the Lombards again – the final score was 4-1.

In a balanced opening period, it wasn't until the final minute that the first goal was scored: While Varese's new signing, Christian Buono, was in the penalty box, Matteo Cappuccio put the home team ahead 1-0. Shortly after the restart, Jonas Oberrauch increased the lead to 2-0, before David Galassiti scored the decisive third goal midway through the game. Kaltern's power play continued to be effective in the final period: Florian Wieser sealed the victory in the 53rd minute. Just before the final buzzer, Tommaso Terzago denied Hechte goalie Samuel Rohregger a shutout. In the Master Round, their lead over second-place Aosta remains at six points.

Eppan won spectacularly. © Jan Marc Zublasing

HC Eppan ended a four-game losing streak across all competitions with a thrilling 6-5 victory in Alleghe. Goals from Nicolas Amici, Alan Schwingshackl, and Daniel Eruzione gave the Pirates an early 3-0 lead. However, Alleghe leveled the score at 4-4 by the 24th minute. Eruzione had then put Eppan ahead 4-2. The American completed his hat trick in the 29th minute, before Leo Messner added another goal to make it 6-4. Edgar De Toni pulled one back for Eppan before the end of the first period, making it 6-5. The South Tyrolean team successfully defended their lead for the final 20 minutes.

Brixen and Toblach are losing

The Falcons Brixen had already been undone by a disastrous first half in their 3-5 loss against Fiemme. Dominik Obexer and his teammates were already trailing 0-4 after just 28 minutes. Two goals from Grant Docter in the 39th and 41st minutes offered a glimmer of hope, but a spectacular comeback never materialized. The game was effectively over after Lukas Goldner's goal made it 5-2. Gabriel Vinatzer's late goal was merely a consolation.

Meanwhile, HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites suffered a 1-4 defeat in Feltre. After Matteo Dall'Agnol gave them an early lead in the fourth minute, Simon Lahner equalized just 23 seconds later. It then took until the 49th minute for the next goal, scored by Samuele Zampieri. Marco Da Forno and Dall'Agnol subsequently sealed the victory.

Italian Hockey League:

Master round

SV Kaltern – Varese 4:1
Goals: 1:0 Cappuccio (19.27), 2:0 Oberrauch (23.36), 3:0 Galassiti (30.53), 4:0 Wieser (52.07), 4:1 Terzago (56.43)
Audience: 290

HC Aosta – Pergine 3:2
Goals: 1:0 McNally (12.57), 2:0 Helfer (18.55), 3:0 Nardella (23.05), 3:1 Sullmann (33.57), 3:2 Andreotti (38.03)
Audience: 590

Alleghe – HC Eppan 5:6
Goals: 0:1 Amici (00.22), 0:2 Schwingshackl (7.04), 0:3 Eruzione (8.14), 1:3 Huhtela (13.02), 2:3 Alessio (13.21), 2:4 Eurzione (13.39), 3:4 Martini (22.50), 4:4 De Toni (23.43), 4:5 Eruzione (28.42), 4:6 Messner (33.14), 5:6 De Toni (39.45)
Audience: 815



Qualification Round

Brixen Falcons – Valdifiemme 3:5
Goals: 0:1 Moberg (11.47), 0:2 Odorizzi (12.11), 0:3 Willeit (27.22), 0:4 Odorizzi (28.00), 1:4 Docter (38.05), 2:4 Docter (40.33), 2:5 Goldner (50.55), 3:5 Vinatzer (52.30)
Audience: 383

Feltre – HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites 4:1
Goals: 1:0 Dall'Agnol (3.33), 1:1 Lahner (3.56), 2:1 Zampieri (48.40), 3:1 Da Forno (56.48), 4:1 Dall'Agnol (59.16)
Audience: 950

Fassa Falcons – Valpellice 4:5 nP
Goals: 0:1 Rosso (2.14), 0:2 Long (10.06), 1:2 Salo (15.49), 1:3 Rosso (16.33), 2:3 Moroder (20.42), 3:3 Mikhnov (22.30), 4:3 Deluca (49.25), 4:4 Long (55.46)