The Rittner Buam had no chance © Max Pattis

Ritten loses at the end

The semi-finals of the Continental Cup took place over the last three days. The Rittner Buam, who confidently made it through the quarter-finals, suffered three defeats and were eliminated as last in the group. In the end, they suffered a clear defeat against Zilina.

17 November 2024

From: pm

At the end of the third round of the IIHF Continental Cup in Zilina, the Ritten Buam SkyAlps met hosts Vlci Zilina. While it was no longer possible for the Buam to advance after the defeats in the previous two games, it was also clear for Zilina that they could not qualify for the final round despite their opening overtime victory over Arlan Kokshetau. Kokshetau beat the Cardiff Devils 6:3 on Sunday afternoon and are through with seven points, just like Cardiff with six points. Despite this, Zilina started impulsively and scored the 1:0 after just five minutes. A powerful shot from Jones after great preparatory work from Balaz landed right under the crossbar (5.02). Ritten did not bury its head in the sand, however, and created a number of good chances, the best of which was missed by Simon Kostner in the 18th minute when he forced Dubek to make a spectacular save with his pads.

Had a tough time: The Rittner Buam © Max Pattis

The preliminary decision was made in the middle third, when Zilina stepped up a gear and was rewarded three times. First, Jones scored his brace after a beautifully executed move (23.39), then Betak deflected a long-range shot from Bellus, making it unstoppable for Plattner - he was standing between the posts for Furlong - (30.43) and finally Bellus also got on the scoreboard when he nailed a long-range shot into the near corner (39.48).

The boys had the opportunity to shorten the lead in two power plays, but the shots on goal by Lobis (33rd), Hjorth (34th) and Cuglietta (36th) were either defused by Dubek or went just over the bar. The score was 4-0 at the second break and the Rittner Buam SyAlps needed a small miracle to turn the game around in the final third. But that didn't happen. At first the hosts from Slovakia continued to push and Dubravik skilfully directed a pass from Holenda into the goal to make it 5-0 (49.40).