On Saturday, the first matchday of the men’s Bundesliga officially opened the new season. ATSE Dukes Graz and Union Red Dragons Altenberg got off to a perfect start with two wins, while defending champion Irish Moose Linz surprisingly had to return home without any points.
Graz defies the given home advantage
Due to the weather forecast, the home game day of the ATSE Dukes Graz was moved to Stegersbach. ATSE vs. Tigers was also the first duel of the new season. The Stegersbachers were able to stand up to the slightly favored Grazers and went into the first third break with a 2:3 lead. Graz equalized the game in the middle section and took the lead in the 33rd minute. Shortly before the time was up, Stegersbach had to put everything on one card and take the goalkeeper off the field for another player. Andreas Meixner dashed all of Stegersbach’s hopes and scored his fourth goal for the 6:4 final score in favor of the Styrians.
The Tigers Stegersbach made amends in the following game. The Tigers clearly defeated Dark Vipers Salzburg 8:2. It wasn’t Salzburg’s day, who also suffered a 5:8 defeat against Lunatics Vienna.
The ATSE DSG Dukes Graz, on the other hand, finished the first day of the game perfectly with a thumping victory over Vienna. This makes you the first table leader in the 2022 Bundesliga season.
Lower Austria teams surprise the master
In Wiener Neustadt, next to the host Mad Dogs, the Union Red Dragons Altenberg and the favored Irish Moose Linz played for the first points of the season.
The first duel had a surprising outcome. The Mad Dogs Wiener Neustadt played very disciplined and were efficient in converting chances. In addition, they had a strong backing in goal with Marvin Alfanz. The people of Linz had numerous chances to score, but were repeatedly denied by the goalkeeper and so the Mad Dogs Wiener Neustadt got a well-deserved 6:4 opening win.
Linz didn’t really get going in the following game against Union Red Dragons Altenberg either and were 3-0 down after the first period. From the middle section onwards, the reigning champion created a multitude of chances and came up to 2:3. Ultimately, however, the Red Dragons worked out the 3:5 victory with a solid team effort.
