After the horror third: Foxes suffer the biggest defeat of the season

After the opening third, HC Bozen led 2-0 away in Hungary and delivered one of its best performances of the season up to that point. 40 minutes later it was 7:4 in favor of Fehérvár. What happened? The Foxes collapsed completely in the middle period, conceding one goal after the next and paving the way to victory for their pursuers without resistance.

After a twelve-day break, Fehérvár initially had a lot of trouble getting the engine running. Bozen took advantage of this and stirred up the opposing defense time and time again. Angelo Miceli and Anton Bernard initially missed the best chances before Dan Catenacci duped goalkeeper Jaroslav Janus with a shot between the leg guards. A little later, the in-form Angelo Miceli made it 2-0 in the power play with a cross corner shot. Shortly before the first third siren, Leland Irving made a great save against ex-HCB striker Alex Petan. Was this a harbinger of the disaster that was to follow in the middle third?

The fact is that the Foxes were completely off track after the restart and allowed the Hungarians to act completely unhindered in front of their own goal for several minutes. Miika Lahti, Istvan Bartalis and Toni Kahkonen didn't need two and a half turns of the pointer to completely turn the result on its head. Karl Stollery and Co. acted as extras for all three goals conceded. On the other side, goalie Jaros also had a misfire, passing the puck behind his goal to Anthony Bardaro. He fed Dustin Gazley, who scored into the empty goal to make it 3-3.

Anthony Bardaro was symbolically pushed against the wall in the middle section. © Soós Attila

But the visitors' equalizer turned out to be just a flash in the pan, as Fehérvár then turned things around again. Anze Kuralt scored under Irving's armpit to make it 4:3, shortly afterwards the Bolzano goalkeeper was loaded by Bartalis before Csanad Erdely gave the Eastern Europeans a clear 6:3 half-time lead with a powerful shot. Fazio also has to reach behind himself After the second break, Irving gave up his place between the posts to Justin Fazio, who really had different ideas about his return after a five-week injury break. Although Bozen was now able to provide more stability again and give a spark of hope with a power play goal from Mike Halmo, Fazio was not able to leave the ice unconquered either. Last year's HCB striker Colton Hargrove made it 7:4 and at the same time the final point of a strange and, from the guests' point of view, extremely bitter game.

Bolzano's worst defeat of the season has little impact on the table. The Foxes are clearly ahead of the KAC, Fehérvár and the Vienna Capitals. The latter became the fourth team to get the playoff ticket on Friday evening. The South Tyroleans will now travel on to Graz, where on Sunday (from 16.30 p.m SportNews -Live ticker) the next away game is coming up. Hydro Fehérvár AV19 – HCB Südtirol Alperia 7:4 Fehervar: Janus (Kornakker); Stipsicz-Campbell, Szabo-Caruso, Geiger-Horvath; Hargrove-Hari-Kuralt, Erdely-Bartalis-Petan, Kahkonen-Sarauer-Sarpatki, Mihaly, Lahti Coach: Karhula

HSBC: Irving (from 40.00 Fazio); Pietroniro-Plastino, Robertson-Di Perna, Fournier-Stollery, Youds; Halmo-Catenacci-Bardaro, Frank-Giliati-Gazley, Deluca-Alberga-Miceli, Frigo-Bernard-Insam, Pitschieler Coach: Ireland

Gates: 0:1 Dan Catenacci (10.49), 0:2 Angelo Miceli (14.10), 1:2 Miika Lahti (22.59), 2:2 Istvan Bartalis (24.03), 3:2 Toni Kahkonen (25.17), 3:3 Dustin Gazley (27.01), 4:3 Anze Kuralt (32.49), 5:3 Istvan Bartalis (35.41), 6:3 Csanad Erdely (38.41), 6:3 Mike Halmo (52.03), 7:4 Colton Hargrove (56.38) The other results from Friday: Vienna – Graz 3:2 aet Goals: 0:1 Cameranesi (3.28), 0:2 Broda (11.08), 1:2 Fischer (20.59), 2:2 Rotter (34.44), 3:2 Loney (63.56) Villach – Bratislava 1:5 Goals: 0:1 Hudec (12.59), 1:1 Gill (13.19), 1:2 Hudec (50.56), 1:3 Fortier (52.10), 1:4 Kostsitsyn (53.18), 1:5 Higgs (57.53) Salzburg – Klagenfurt 1-3 Goals: 0:1 Fraser (12.51), 1:1 Raffl (28.38), 1:2 Manuel Geier (37.21), 1:3 Haudum (58.17) Linz – Innsbruck 1:4 Goals: 0:1 Ciampini (3.12), 0:2 Christoffer (3.55), 1:2 Lebler (18.55), 1:3 Ciampini (39.51), 1:4 Lattner (57.54) The table: SP G U V TV P 1. HCB South Tyrol 36 25 0 11 115:69 76 2. Klagenfurt 36 23 0 13 110:70 71 3. Fehervar 37 24 0 13 127:107 70 4. Vienna Capitals 37 23 0 14 120:98 66 5. Salzburg 35 19 0 16 105:90 60 6. Dornbirn 36 18 0 18 103:99 53 7. Graz99ers 36 16 0 20 101:120 47 8. Innsbruck 36 14 0 22 116:128 44 9. Bratislava 36 15 0 21 92:121 44 10. Villach 36 14 0 22 84:114 41 11. Linz 37 8 0 29 70:127 25

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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After the horror third: Foxes suffer the biggest defeat of the season

HCB Südtirol Alperia was completely out of sorts in the top game of the ICE Hockey League on Friday evening. The undisputed league Croesus conceded six goals in the middle third alone against third-placed Fehérvár and then slipped into a small debacle. The game got off to an excellent start.

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