Ice Hockey League

5:1! KAC ends quarterfinal series with Pioneers

5:1! KAC ends quarter-final series with Pioneers(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The KAC has lived up to its role as favorite in the quarter-final series of the ICE Hockey League against the Pioneers Vorarlberg! 

The basic round winners won 5:1 (2:1, 1:0, 2:0) in the Feldkirch Vorarlberghalle on Wednesday evening and decided the best-of-seven series 4:2 ahead of schedule. Vorarlberg's recent 6:1 away win in Klagenfurt was therefore only a brief flare-up. Klagenfurt had not allowed themselves to be thrown off course by their highest defeat of the season and their biggest play-off loss in 25 years.

That was made clear by a dream start to game number 6. Nicholas Petersen scored after just 50 seconds for the visitors, who were also able to celebrate Finn van Ee's second goal (3rd). Pioneers goalgetter Steven Owre managed to score the equalizer in between (7th/PP), but that remained the home side's only tally. Paul Postma (22nd) and Petersen again (46th) as well as Manuel Ganahl (56th/EN) in the final period made sure the situation was clear. The KAC thus also won its third away game in the playoffs.

"We made it to the semi-finals, so we did everything right!"
"Of course there's relief now. Feldkirch threw everything into it and were difficult to play against. But we made it to the semi-finals, so we did everything right," summarized KAC captain Thomas Hundertpfund in the Puls24 interview. For the team that finished tenth in the basic round, however, the season is over after the quarter-finals. Regardless of this, it can be categorized as "successful". "We were eliminated, but it still feels like a victory. We stuck together brutally as a team and the arena thanked us with a standing ovation," said Pioneers player Alexander Pallestrang. 3890 fans attended the last game of the season.

Pustertal Wölfe earn 7th game against Fehervar
In Pustertal's duel with Fehervar, the home team also came off the ice victorious in the sixth game. The South Tyroleans fended off the Hungarians' "match puck" in front of their own crowd in Bruneck with a 4:2 victory. This means that for only the third time in league history, a play-off series could end with only home victories. Previously, this was only the case in the 2011 semi-final between Salzburg and the Vienna Capitals and in the 2015 quarter-final between the Black Wings Linz and HCB Südtirol. For it to happen a third time, Fehervar would have to secure their semi-final advancement in the deciding game in Szekesfehervar on Saturday (17:30).