- Bale and Embrey tied 1-1 in the first leg of the second round.
- Mannix Landry gives the visitors of Ticino an early lead, and Tino Kesler equalizes after half an hour.
- The return match will be held on Wednesday in Leventina. The winner will face the ZSC Lions in the playoff quarterfinals.
The intensity may have been there at times, but the game at the Tissot Arena in Biel was no ice hockey – there were too many mistakes on both sides, and there were too many mistakes in attack. However, goalkeepers Harry Sateri (Bell) and Benjamin Kunz (Ambry) were at their best.
So it was no surprise that both teams scored just one goal and both goalkeepers were honored as the best players on their team. Kunz saved the visitors' point in the final third when he stopped Jerome Bachofner, who was rushing alone. Embry coach Luca Sereda gave preference to Jurassic over Jan Juvonen so that he could use more foreign players.
Embry early progress
Embry, who lost 3 of his 4 head-to-head matches in qualifying, started bravely. After a shot by Jesse Virtanen, Mannix Landry was in the right position to capitalize on the rebound (3'). Biel's Alexi Heponiemi almost found the immediate answer, but failed to hit the post (5th place).
In the middle third, the (slight) visual superiority of the Stengers team paid off. Bale's first powerful pass had no impact (not for the last time), but as soon as Inte Pistoni returned to the ice, Tino Kesler scored a power-play goal to make it 1-1.
The Leventini team remained dangerous throughout and almost scored a second goal through Michael Spacek (post) or Laurent Dauphin. In Bale's team, Fabio Hoever or Damian Brunner/Mike Kunzel could have created more chances at 2-1.
The second stop is Wednesday
Everything will be decided on Wednesday at Gottardo Stadium. Whoever wins the match (whether after 60 minutes or in extra time) advances to the quarter-finals. Team Sereda can count on the support of its raucous fans.
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