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Rok Ticar & Co. suffered a clear and decisive defeat. © Fradimedia
Failures, bad luck and mishaps: Pustertal's troubled evening
It would be wrong to say that HC Falkensteiner Pustertal is in crisis. However, the fact is that the Wolves suffered their fifth consecutive away defeat on Friday evening. The manner in which this loss came about against their bogey team, Ferencvaros Budapest, is cause for concern.
05 December 2025
From: leo
Less than two weeks ago, HC Pustertal was statistically the best away team in the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). Fittingly for the current weather, that's now ancient history. While the Wolves had already been plagued by poor defensive performances in their last few away games, their defensive woes worsened considerably in the Hungarian capital: individual and collective lapses led to a 3-7 defeat against the league newcomer, who thus won their third consecutive game against the Black and Yellows this season.
In Hungary, HC Pustertal donned their third jersey, an unusual shade of gray. This didn't bring the team any luck from the start, especially with Nick Saracino sidelined. Just 96 seconds had elapsed when Andras Mihalik scored the first of his three goals. Instead of responding immediately, HCP subsequently drew attention to themselves with large gaps in their own zone, poor marking, and errant passes. To make matters worse, the Wolves displayed extreme lack of discipline, accumulating a total of 28 penalty minutes.
A brief gasp
This combination made life (too) easy for the Hungarians. Although Jakob Rabanser in the Puster Valley goal wasn't without his own mistakes, one couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Time and again, a Hungarian player found himself alone in front of his net because his defenders offered neither physical strength nor good positioning. And so, Budapest built a 3-0 lead by halftime, which the underdogs successfully defended from then on. Puster Valley's hopes after Cole Bardreau's goal to make it 3-1 and Matthias Mantinger's goal to make it 4-2 were quickly extinguished.
Budapest went wild. © Fradimedia
To head into the international break on a high note, the Wolves are aiming for their first away win since October 29th in just 24 hours. They visit the Black Wings Linz on Saturday at 18 p.m. Meanwhile, their deficit to the new league leaders, Klagenfurt, has grown to four points. HC Bozen also suffered a defeat on Friday.
The highlights
| Mihalik, firstly | Only a minute and a half had been played when the puck was passed into the slot to Galajda. His errant shot landed right on Mihalik's stick, who didn't hesitate. |
| Mihalik the Second | Even at 0-2, the Wolves simply watched as Tammela was completely unmarked in the slot and able to shoot undisturbed. Mihalik's goal to make it 0-3, finishing off a passing move with a direct shot, was then half the battle won. |
| Mihailik for the third time | After a fine assist from Bowlby, the Wolves pulled one back to make it 1-3, but Budapest responded with a counter-attack finished off by Shaw. Shortly after, Mantinger scored from distance, before Mihalik completed his hat-trick with a deflected goal. |
| That's it | It was none other than last year's HCP star Tyler Coulter who sealed the victory. On the power play, he redirected a Shaw pass into the net. Purdeller then converted a penalty shot, and Shaw's empty-net goal finally sealed the final score. |
Ferencvaros Budapest – HC Pustertal 7:3
FTC: Balizs (Kristof Nagy); Bengtsson-Hadobas, Gergely Toth-Lindgren, Hudec-Horvath, Sergely-Farkas; Shaw-Mattyasovszki-Laskawy, Green-Coulter-Tammela, Mihalik-Nagy-Galajda, Richard Toth.coach: Saarikoski
HCP: Rabanser (Pasquale); Osmanski-Glira, Zanatta-Blum, Lauridsen-DiTomaso; Bowlby-Bardreau-Lobis, Purdeller-Frycklund-Rueschhoff, Ierullo-Ticar-Lipon, Deluca-Andergassen-Mantinger.
coach: Jasper
Gates: 1-0 Mihalik (1.36) 2-0 Tammela (8.07), 3-0 Mihalik (29.31), 3-1 Bardreau (32.13), 4-1 Shaw (33.07), 4-2 Deluca (36.35), 5-2 Mihalik (37.11), 6-2 Coulter (46.51), 6-3 Purdeller (57.37), 7:3 Shaw (57.48)
Viewers: 1291
ICE Hockey League:
Vienna Capitals – HC Bozen 4:1Goals: 1:0 Kromp (12.48), 2:0 Gazzola (14.37), 3:0 Gregoire (25.17), 4:0 Gregoire (40.31), 4:1 Brunner (53.51)
Audience: 4180
Red Bull Salzburg – EC KAC 1:2
Goals: 1:0 Baltram (2.23), 1:1 Kempe (8.29), 1:2 Fraser (35.07)
Audience: 3224
Black Wings Linz – Pioneers Vorarlberg 3:5
Goals: 1:0 Knott (5.28), 1:1 Macierzynski (6.30), 1:2 Adams (13.39), 1:3 Macierzynski (29.55), 2:3 Lebler (30.29), 3:3 Knott (50.26), 3:4 Kernberger (52.00), 3:5 Adams (59.32)
Audience:3610
Olimpija Ljubljana – Villacher SV 6:3
Goals: 1:0 Mahkovec (30.33), 2:0 Boychuk (30.54), 3:0 Petan (37.00), 4:0 Sodja (39.33), 5:0 Quince (52.53), 5:1 Kulda (53.22), 5:2 MacPherson (55.32), 5:3 Katic (55.50), 6:3 Pance (58.09)
Audience: 2410
The table
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. EC Klagenfurt | 25 | 17 | 0 | 8 | 87:64 | 51 |
| 2. Graz99ers | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 81:54 | 50 |
| 3. Olimpija Ljubljana | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 109:76 | 48 |
| 4. HC Pustertal | 25 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 85:68 | 47 |
| 5. HCB South Tyrol | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 86:62 | 43 |
| 6. EC Villach | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 80:76 | 38 |
| 7. Ferencvarosi | 25 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 70:79 | 37 |
| 8. EC Salzburg | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 68:57 | 36 |
| 9. Fehervar | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 53:71 | 33 |
| 10. Linz | 25 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 81:86 | 31 |
| 11. Vienna Capitals | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 59:73 | 28 |
| 12. HC Innsbruck | 25 | 7 | 0 | 18 | 65:108 | 19 |
| 13. Vorarlberg | 25 | 6 | 0 | 19 | 52:102 | 19 |
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