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Pustertal's JC Lipon and Klagenfurt's Will MacKinnon faced off in a boxing match. © EC-KAC/Wolfgang Jannach
Wild boxing, wild match – but no happy ending for Pusterer
HC Falkensteiner Pustertal suffered their first defeat of the season. HCP narrowly lost their top-of-the-table clash against Klagenfurt on Sunday. However, the game was still a spectacle.
September 20, 2026
From:
Thomas Debelyak
It was the highlight of the day – and the best advertisement for the ICE Hockey League. HC Pustertal and Klagenfurter AC engaged in a wild, back-and-forth battle on Sunday, which KAC ultimately won 3-2.
Both teams arrived at the top match brimming with confidence. HC Pustertal had dispatched the reigning champions Graz 4-2 in their opening game, while Klagenfurt had thrashed Red Bull Salzburg 7-1. The signs were certainly promising, and the 3.706 spectators in the Heidi-Horten-Arena were not disappointed. Pace, intensity, physicality – the clash between these two top teams had everything a hockey fan could wish for.
Lipon's fistfight is stirring up emotions.
Need an example? Just a few minutes in, a wild fistfight broke out. Pustertal's bad boy JC Lipon clashed with Klagenfurt's Will MacKinnon during an attack. After a brief exchange, both fighters dropped their gloves and began exchanging blows. Lipon emerged victorious, wrestling his opponent to the ground with several hard punches, though he also suffered a bloody lip.
Tommy Purdeller now has three goals this season.
For much of the game, goalkeepers Sebastian Dahm (Klagenfurt) and Eddie Pasquale (Pustertal) put on a spectacular show, outdoing each other with breathtaking saves. Ultimately, however, Klagenfurt proved more clinical, capitalizing on Pustertal's mistakes more effectively. As a result, the score stood at 3-0 for the Carinthians by the 55th minute. But then the Wolves demonstrated why they should never be underestimated: Goals from Cole Bardreau and Tommy Purdeller within 79 seconds brought the Black and Yellows right back into the game. However, it wasn't enough to secure a point.
The highlights
| Boxing match | The highlight of the first third: The boxing match between Lipon and MacKinnon, which the Pustertal crack wins – although he suffers a bloody lip. |
| It rings | After half an hour, Klagenfurt's scoring drought is broken: Nickl's power-play shot is deflected into his own net by Pustertal's Lauridsen (31st minute). KAC takes the lead. |
| Top Powerplay | In a wild final period, Klagenfurt extended their lead. First, Sablattnig capitalized on an Osmanski error to make it 2-0 (47th minute). Then, the KAC's brilliant power play struck again: St. Denis delivered a pinpoint pass into the middle, where Fraser tapped it in (53rd minute). |
| Wolf morality | For a long time, the Pusterer players were frustrated by goalie Sebastian Dahm, who saved everything that came his way. But within a few minutes, the Wolves struck twice. First, Bardreau deflected a Bowlby pass into the net to make it 1-3 (55th minute), then Purdeller danced around in front of the KAC goal and beat Dahm on the second attempt (56th minute). For Tommy Boy, it was already his third goal of the season – but that was as far as he would get. |
With Graz and Klagenfurt already ahead of HCP, the Wolves have faced the two biggest teams in the league on paper. After this intense start, they can take a week's rest before their next game, a home match against Linz (17 p.m.) next Sunday. Linz, who suffered a 0-4 thrashing today against Milano HC, remain the league newcomers with a perfect record of six points. Meanwhile, HC Bozen celebrated a spectacular 6-3 victory against Salzburg.
Klagenfurter AC – HC Pustertal 3:2
KAC: Dahm (Vorauer); Unterweger-Nickl, Jensen Aabo-Göransson, MacKinnon-Preiml, Simovic-Waschnig; Petersen-Mursak-Drozg, Fraser-St. Denis-Obersteiner, Herburger-Hundertpfund-Schwinger, Sablattnig-Van Ee-ÖfnerCoach: Furey
HCP: Pasquale (Furlong); Farrance-Osmanski, Glira-Zanatta, Lauridsen-DiTomaso; Purdeller-Fontaine-Rueschhoff, Bowlby-Bardreau-Lipon, Lobis-Fitzgerald-Ierullo, Zandegiacomo-Moncada-Mantinger, Deluca
Coach: Jaspers
Gates: 1:0 Thimo Nickl (30.41), 2:0 Tobias Sablattnig (46.08), 3:0 Matthew Fraser (52.41), 3:1 Cole Bardreau (54.33), 3:2 Tommy Purdeller (55.52)
Viewers: 3.706
ICE, Sunday's games
HC Bozen – Red Bull Salzburg 6:3 (here is the report)Goals: 1-0 Ratcliffe (1.06), 1-1 Poisson (5.22), 1-2 Nienhuis (15.13), 2-2 Gazley (21.52), 3-2 McClure (28.20), 4-2 Elson (33.44), 5-2 Remolato (35.13), 5-3 Kalynuk (48.55), 6-3 Elson (56.46)
Audience: 3.101
Black Wings Linz – Milano HC 0:4
Goals: 0:1 Pietroniro (15.45), 0:2 McLaughlin (26.26), 0:3 McLaughlin (42.35), 0:4 Hannoun (45.54)
Audience: 3.512
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. EC Klagenfurt | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10:3 | 6 |
| 2. Olimpija Ljubljana | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11:5 | 6 |
| 3. HC Milan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7:1 | 6 |
| 4. HCB South Tyrol | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9:5 | 6 |
| 5. EC Villacher SV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
| 6. HC Pustertal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6:5 | 3 |
| 7. Vienna Capitals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7:7 | 3 |
| 8. Graz99ers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5:5 | 3 |
| 9. Fehervar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6:9 | 2 |
| 10. Linz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3:8 | 1 |
| 11. Ferencvarosi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3:5 | 0 |
| 12. HC Innsbruck | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5:8 | 0 |
| 13. Vorarlberg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2:5 | 0 |
| 14. EC Salzburg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4:13 | 0 |
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