The Hechte were happy about a derby victory © Social Media

Thanks to the power play: Kaltern defeats Eppan

The new year marks the beginning of a new season in the Italian Hockey League. Right at the start of the Master Round, the Hechte from Kaltern played at home against Eppan, with the hosts securing dominance in Überetsch. The Falcons Brixen and the HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites, on the other hand, suffered bitter defeats in the battle for the quarter-finals.

04 January 2025

From: none

The intermediate round of the IHL started on Saturday. While SV Kaltern and HC Eppan are already in the quarterfinals, Brixen and HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites are fighting for the remaining two playoff tickets in the qualification round. In order to give the regular season more weight, all teams take a third of the points they have scored into the second phase of the season.

In the master round, the Überetsch derby between the Hecht and the Pirates took place on the first day of play. The guests from Eppan got off to a great start and were already in the lead after just 11 minutes thanks to a goal from Chrystopher Collin. The hosts had no answer for a long time. But this changed in the middle third - and how: The Hecht took advantage of a numerical advantage three times in total and scored the goals to make it 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1.

The goal scorers were Oskari Siiki and Moritz Selva. The hosts' power play formation also struck in the final period, putting the hard rubber puck into the net for a fourth time. The guests' discipline left a lot to be desired that evening (38 penalty minutes). After Matteo Cappuccio made it 5:1, Kaltern also took the final point - with a man advantage, of course. The final score was 6:1.

3 Zinnen Dolomites no chance

The start of the intermediate round was less successful for the HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites and the Falcons from Brixen. Both teams suffered clear defeats at home. Brixen took the lead early on through Marco Niccolai (8th minute), but the guests from Pergine struck back in the first period and turned the game around with three goals in 3 minutes. The Eisacktal team continued to try hard afterwards, but a second goal was not forthcoming. The guests did better and increased their lead to 52:4 in the 1nd minute.

The Eisbären from Toblach also had a very bad start to the second phase of the season against the Fassa Falcons. After a small deficit at the beginning, the hosts collapsed completely in the second period and conceded four goals in the middle period. In the end, the South Tyroleans had to digest a 0:6 defeat.

IHL, Saturday's results:

Master round:
Feltre - Varese 5:3
1:0 Kadlec (05.06), 2:0 Korkiakoski (20.21), 3:0 De Forno (35.38), 3:1 Ghiglione (36.19), 3:2 Kuronen (40.50), 3:3 Kuronen (42.35), 4 :3 Lytvynov (59.40), 5:3 Foltin (60.00)
Audience: 1001

Kaltern – Eppan 6:1
0:1 Collin (10.44), 1:1 Siiki (24.51), 2:1 Selva (34.10), 3:1 Selva (35.41), 4:1 Massar (43.15), 5:1 Cappuccio (46.51), 6: 1 Oberrauch (59.09)
Audience: 210

Alleghe – Aosta 4:6
0:1 Nardella (05.52), 1:1 Makela (11.24), 2:1 Alessio (21.44), 3:1 Soppelsa (28.18), 3:2 Moucka (28.39), 3:3 De Toni (29.59), 3 :4 Luisetti (31.46), 3:5 Nardella (43.16), 3:6 Complete (52.22), 4:6 Moberg (54.45)
Audience: 1086





Qualification round:
Brixen – Pergine 1:4
1:0 Niccolai (07.51), 1:1 Gasperotti (08.44), 1:2 Masotti (10.09), 1:3 Covi (11.23), 1:4 Mbow (51.29)
Audience: 125

HC 3 Zinnen Dolomites – Fassa 0:6
0:1 Vigl (12.08), 0:2 Themar 821.14), 0:3 Deluca (22.23), 0:4 Mikhnov (33.01), 0:5 Salo (35.22), 0:6 Salo (49.38)
Audience: 297

Valdifiemme – Valpellice 7:3
1:0 Kizlo (04.17), 2:0 Nicolao (13.38), 3:0 Nicolao (17.52), 4:0 Tomi (24.54), 4:1 Savolainen (31.28), 5:1 Kizlo (37.43), 5: 2 Pozzi (43.19), 5:3 Ravera (47.16), 6:3 Kizlo (54.28), 7:3 Stanko (57.31)
Audience: 560