Two high hurdles for the ice pirates
Created: 12/23/2022, 1:00 p.m
By: Georg Brennauer
Puck out, Dorfen player in: Most recently against Geretsried, the ice pirates weren't lucky.
© Hermann Weingartner
The ESC Dorfen has few restful days ahead of the festival and the turn of the year.
Dorfen – The schedule for the Bayernliga main round up to January 8 sees six mandatory dates – four of them at home at the Dr. Rudolf Stadium.
And the challenges are particularly high, especially since it's five times against potential playoff teams.
The first top team to appear this Friday evening at 8 p.m. is EHC Königsbrunn, second in the table, in Dorfen for the second leg.
The Swabians' claim to leadership comes as no surprise after they've upgraded significantly for the new season.
The penguins have been benefiting from the neighboring DEL club Augsburger EV for years, but occasionally also from Landsberg and other traditional clubs nearby.
For example, before the start of the season Marco Sternheimer was hired from AEV.
The 24-year-old top scorer has recorded 45 points in 19 games so far.
A mainstay for a couple of years has been Tim Bullnheimer, who leads the league's assists list with 29 points after 18 games.
Coach Robert "Bobby" Linke's team is characterized by high quality in all rows, which easily explains the goal difference of 88:61 hits.
In the first leg, the ice pirates presented the Swabians with serious problems at 2:3.
Up to the 52nd minute, the Isenstadt team even held a 2-2 lead before the penguins came out on top.
The Isenstadt-based team then faced an almost impossible hurdle on Christmas Day when they were fifth in the table and the crowd favorite TSV Peißenberg.
With an average of 550 spectators behind them, the Miners are truly a force in their own house.
Only Kempten managed a narrow victory at the Pfaffenwinkler.
But the hosts should be warned, because the 6:5 first leg victory after extra time was extremely lucky, as the villagers had led 5:4 goals a few seconds before the final siren.
The ESC, however, must first shake off the 1:5 bankruptcy in the home game against Geretsrieder and tackle the next tasks with an improved attitude.
In any case, according to sports director Hans Ertl, coach Franz Steer, who could not be reached by phone yesterday, had a full squad during training on Wednesday evening in a very tight session on the ice.
