Game Report
The Red Bulls got off to a rough start. Just two minutes into the game, a pass attempt by Gabriel Zerbetto was deflected and found its way into the Juniors’ net, making the score 0–1. Shortly afterward, the home team found themselves playing shorthanded for the first time, but they weathered the storm unscathed and then tried to get back into the game. The Juniors had their first scoring chances, but Unterland struck again: Villi Pisetta extended the lead to 0–2 (9th minute) after assists from Hugo Engelaar and Miiro Linjala. The visitors were now spending more time in the Salzburg zone, and Matthias Bonazzo made it 0–3 (13th minute). The Red Bulls, however, refused to give up. Lukas Greil was initially denied on a breakaway (14th minute), before Niklas Korhonen cut the lead to 1–3 (15th minute) after passes from Isak Norlin and Benedikt Krainer.
The Juniors opened the second period with a flurry of pressure and repeatedly looked to score, but Unterland defended tightly. After that, a physical and open back-and-forth battle ensued. The Red Bulls had two power-play opportunities and created some good chances, but couldn’t find a way past Cavaliers goaltender Manuel Bampi. The Salzburg team also weathered another penalty kill unscathed. In the 38th minute, Unterland finally capitalized on a quick counterattack, with Hugo Engelaar scoring off a pass from Miiro Linjala to make it 1–4.
Just 39 seconds after the restart, Luca Fischer got the final period off to a perfect start, cutting the deficit to 2–4 (41') after assists from Tobias Koller and Isak Norlin. Shortly afterward, the Juniors had to defend while shorthanded once again, but managed to keep the opposing team from scoring. The Red Bulls then turned up the pressure. Paul Oberhauser tried his luck after a solo run (49th minute), Matteo Schroth took a shot from distance (50th minute), and Florian Lanzinger also had another chance. The Juniors now threw everything forward and were rewarded: Benedikt Krainer scored off passes from Lanzinger and Schroth to make it 3–4 (58th minute). Salzburg then called a timeout and briefly played with an extra skater, but Unterland defended its narrow lead. Moritz Kaufmann scored in the final minute of the game (60th minute) to make the final score 3–5.
