Photo: Werner Krainbucher
Last encounter before the international break for the Graz99ers and HCB Südtirol Alperia in the Merkur Ice Stadium. The White Reds continued their winning streak in Graz with a 2-0 win, but it was hard work against a rebellious and never giving up opponent. A short-handed goal from captain Frank paved the way for the White Reds’ victory, which was only finally sealed in the final minute by an empty net goal from Gazley, while goalie Niklas Svedberg celebrated his second shutout of the season.
The match. Coach Glen Hanlon reported all hands on board, Svedberg returned to goal after recovering from the flu, but Lessio had to sit back in the stands as a supernumerary foreigner.
The home team benefited from the sluggishness of the Bolzano defense in the first few minutes and had a few good chances to take the lead through Wemmenborn, Salinitri and Antonitsch. At times Mantenuto caught the Graz goalkeeper from a tight angle. The guests were slow to get going: Miceli hit the side netting, Halmo, Gazley and McClure missed a 3-1 counterattack, while Gazley was denied by Volden with a backhand shot from the slot. Even the first power play in favor of the Foxes did not change the result. Matson had the best opportunity for the 99ers in the final minute, the bar saved the Talferstädters from an early deficit.
The Foxes started aggressively in the middle section, but they didn’t act with enough cold blood in front of the opponent’s goal: McClure, Valentine and Sikura missed good shot opportunities, and Svedberg prevented anything worse from a lightning counterattack by Graz. And as has happened several times in the last few games, the White-Reds received their own penalty: Frank grabbed the target when he was outnumbered, stormed towards Volden alone and confidently outsmarted him. It was the captain’s first goal of the current season. Shortly afterwards, first Sikura and then Thomas from the slot missed good opportunities to take a double lead, while the Mantenuto-Frigo duo were unable to successfully complete their counterattack this time when they were again outnumbered. After a fine individual performance from Salinitri, his shot bounced off the bar and was the final destination for Alberga and Halmo at Volden on the other side. The Foxes had another power play available in the final phase, but Gazley, Vandane and McClure failed to score the second goal.
In the final third, the home team threw everything forward and came close to an equalizer several times, also because the Talferstadt team acted too passively. Wemmenborn, Matson, Ograjensek and again Wemmenborn all failed because of a strong Svedberg, who had to do hard work and in the end celebrated a shutout, just like his colleague Vallini against Salzburg. The Foxes had little to counter this, only McClure and Thomas had the few scoring opportunities. In the last minute, the home team took their goalkeeper out of the game, a collective mistake by the 99ers in their own third gave Gazley a gift, which he gratefully accepted and sent the disc into the empty goal.
The ICEHL will now pause for almost two weeks due to the international break and will resume play on November 17th. Frank & Co. then await the VSV in the Sparkasse Arena. With Miglioranzi, Frank, Frigo, Brunner and Felicetti, five players from Bolzano were called up to the Italian national team.
Graz99ers – HCB Südtirol Alperia 0:2 (0:0 – 0:1 – 0:1)
The goals: 26:51 SH1 Daniel Frank (0:1) – 58:40 AND Dustin Gazley (0:2)
referee: Nagy/Piragic – Nothegger/Seewald
PIM: 6:8
Shots on goal: 23:31
Viewers: 2389
2023-11-05 20:06:19
#Seventh #win #row #Bozen #success #Graz #shutout #Svedberg #Hockey #Club #Bozen
