HC Gherdeina valgardena.it made it 2-0 in the final series against HC Meran/o Pircher with a dominant 6-3 home win in front of almost 2,000 fans. This means that the premiere finalist is only two wins away from the championship title. It continues on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. with final three in the Meranarena.
As in the first final, Val Gardena got off to a dream start: Vlastimil Dostalek scored 1-0 after just 68 seconds. But Meran had the right answer ready and equalized in the fourth minute through Filip Cruseman. Just a little later – a good three minutes later – Dostalek was there again and made it 2-1. With this score we went into the first third break.
The home team also picked up the pace early in the second half: just two and a half minutes after the restart, Simon Pitschieler increased the score to 3-1. However, it didn’t take long for the guests to respond, as just 80 seconds later Brayden Sherbinin’s advantage reduced the score to 2:3 from Meran’s perspective. There were no further goals in the middle third, so Val Gardena still held a narrow lead after 40 minutes.
In the final period, the hosts made the decision early: Nicolo Esposito (44th), Sacha Guimond (46th/PP1) and Davide Schiavone (47th) made it 6-2 with three goals in just three minutes. With Patrick Tomasini around ten minutes before the end, Meran only managed to cosmeticize the result and was no longer really dangerous as a result.
The Eagles are already under a lot of pressure before the home game on Thursday (8:00 p.m./Valcome.tv). Another defeat would give Val Gardena four championship pucks.
Alps Hockey League:
Tue, April 14, 2026:
HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – HC Meran/o Pircher 6:3 (2:1, 1:1, 3:1)
Referees: UNTERWEGER, WINKLER, Abeltino, Seewald
Standings in the best-of-7 series: 2-0
Goals GHE: 1:0 Dostalek V. (2nd), 2:1 Dostalek V. (7th), 3:1 Pitschieler S. (23rd), 4:2 Esposito N. (44th), 5:2 Guimond S. (46th/PP1), 6:2 Schiavone D. (47th)
Goals HCM: 1:1 Cruseman F. (4th), 3:2 Sherbinin B. (24th/PP1), 6:3 Tomasini P. (51st)
alps.hockey , Image: Matthäus Kostner
