The first period started with a wakeup call for the Rittner Buam. After only 19 seconds of the game, Salzburg's Daniel Pronin grabbed the puck and started the counterattack. Alone in front of Hannes Treibenreif he leaves no chance to the Renon goalie and scores the 1:0 for the house masters. As if that wasn't enough, 40 seconds later comes another blow. Jari Sailio badly loses the puck and Quirin Bader takes advantage of it and beats Treibenreif with the goal to make it 2:0. Two goals suffered in less than a minute: the false start of the blue-red is in its way perfect.

The players of the Alto Adige plateau, awakened by the adversary's goals, enter the game. They find the answer after 5'51", with MacGregor Sharp who shoots at the goal from few meters away, with a perfect pass by Andreas Lutz - 1:2. From this moment on, the Rittner Buam play the game, while the "young bulls" of Salzburg defend with their nails. The Renon team, however, also managed to tie: Markus Spinell saw that Alex Frei had free space in front of him and sent him forward with the puck. In a one-on-one Frei doesn't give any chance to the Salzburg goalie Florian Bugl and scores with coldness the 2:2 (9'58"). The game is open again and Renon feels it can do it. During the first power play, Bugl saves twice with his pads, but can't do anything about Lasse Uusivirta's shot from the distance, assisted by Zach Osburn, that ends up at the cross of the posts (14'51"). The bad start is now forgotten, the Buam give another turn to the game.

After the lively initial period, the game becomes calmer in the second. On both sides, the two goalkeepers, Hannes Treibenreif for the Rittner Buam and Florian Bugl for the "young bulls", stand out several times. Renon imposes itself more and more and takes over the game at a glance. Halfway through the second period of the game it manages to score 2:4. Alex Frei and Simon Kostner play well a counter-attack and Kostner at the end, without much effort, beats Bugl (30'27"). But it's not enough: a little less than three minutes later, the Rittner Buam once again make their way back to the Salzburg team's goal. Jari Sailio passes to Julian Kostner, who shoots the puck centrally, in front of Bugl. There he finds Sailio, who sends the puck into the goal for the 5:2 in favor of Santeri Heiskanen's team (33'23"). The starting point for the final third is excellent: three goals of advantage and a team dictating the rhythm. Will the Red Bull Hockey Juniors be able to reverse this trend in front of their home crowd?

The answer is no. At no time the Rittner Buam risk a comeback by the Salzburgers, they play with too much familiarity for this to happen. On the contrary: while killing a penalty Jari Sailio scores the 2:6, after being sent all alone forward by Julian Kostner (44'52"). The Buam's hunger has not yet subsided. A few minutes later Bugl is in position on a shot by Osburn, but the Salzburg defense is unable to move the puck from the most dangerous zone. Julian Kostner reacts first and shoots it on goal for 2:7 (47'29"). The "young bulls" give themselves up and Renon's team not only manages the advantage, but also manages to score the eighth goal (2:8). Just before the final siren, Zach Osburn sends the puck under the crossbar (58'56"). The thirteenth victory in 18 matches against the Red Bull Hockey Juniors is a done deal.

The next meeting of the Rittner Buam will be next Thursday (October 14) at 8:30 pm, when Zach Osburn and his teammates will play away against the Fassa Falcons.

Alps Hockey League 2021/22

EC Red Bull Salzburg II. - Rittner Buam 2:8 (2:3, 0:2, 0:2)

Goals: 1:0 Daniel Pronin (0'19"), 2:0 Quirin Bader (0'59"), 2:1 MacGregor Sharp (5'51"), 2:2 Alex Frei (9'58"), 2:3 Lasse Uusivirta (14'51"/PP), 2: 4 Simon Kostner (30'27"), 2:5 Jari Sailio (33'23"), 2:6 Jari Sailio (44'52"/SH), 2:7 Julian Kostner (47'29"), 2:8 Zach Osburn (58'56")

Photo: Max Pattis