After scoring seven points in its last three matches, HC Ajoie brought nothing back from Bern on Friday. Except for a few regrets. In the lead after a quarter of an hour, he saw his opponent pass him after mid-match. The Bernese increased the score from 1-1 to 3-1 in just over two minutes, ultimately celebrating a sixth success in seven outings (5-1).
Determined to rectify the situation after the two bitter setbacks conceded earlier in the season against this same opponent (5-0 and 6-3), the Jurassiens entered this duel with conviction. Generating more danger at the start of the match, they logically took the lead. When a pass from Devos was deflected, Jonathan Hazen confirmed his good intentions at the start of the year by deceiving Adam Reideborn (12th). For the fourth time in a row, Ajoie opened the scoring, carried once again by the traction of his Quebec duo.
The fact remains that this opening seemed to perk up the Bernese, borrowed until then, who equalized at the end of the third through Austin Czarnik. The top scorer of the place had every opportunity to infiltrate into opposing territory before deceiving Damiano Ciaccio, started for the first time in 2025 (Conz was left to rest), before being replaced by the young Kilian Bernasconi in the last third.
The visitors then managed to contain, and rather well, the attacks of the Bears who came very close to conceding the second (shooting the amount of Honka in the 23rd). The Capital players finally escaped after mid-match thanks to two successes in the space of two minutes.
Fabian Ritzmann first took advantage of a big misunderstanding between Marco Maurer and Louis Robin leaving the defensive zone to score 2-1 (33rd). Then a bad change of line gave Berne a surplus which Lukas Klok used to give his team two steps ahead (35th).
Punished for his two gaps, Ajoie was not able to come back in a final period which saw Joël Vermin definitively validate the Bernese victory (4-1, 52nd). Waltteri Merelä drove the point home a little further with the 5-1 scored in numerical superiority (58th).
The HCA will not have time to ruminate on this heavy failure, as it welcomes Lugano on Saturday to Porrentruy with the hope of reducing the gap on its closest competitor.
Berne – Ajoie 5-1 (1-1 2-0 2-0)
PostFinanceArena. 15632 spectators. Arbitres: MM. Stolc, Piechaczek, Steenstra and Gnemmi.
Buts: 12e Hazen (Devos, Bozon) 0-1, 18e Czarnik (Untersander, Scherwey) 1-1, 33e Ritzmann (Schild) 2-1, 35e Klok (Marchon, Moser) 3-1, 52e Vermin (Czarnik, Merelä) 4-1, 58e Merelä (Ejdsell, Kahun/5 c 4) 5-1.
Berne: Reideborn; Untersander, district; spoon, clog; Vermin, Kindshi; Füllmann; Merelä, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Bader, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Moser, Kahun, Marchon; Schild, Schläpfer, Ritzmann; Ryser. Entrainer: Tapola.
Add: Ciaccio (41st Bernasconi); Honka, Fey; Scheidegger, Fischer; Nussbaumer, Maurer; Thiry, Pilet; Palve, Bellemare, Nattinen; Hazen, Devos, Pedretti; Robin, Garessus, Bozon; Sopa, Romanenghi, Veckaktins. Coach: Ireland.
Penalties: 2 x 2′ against Bern, 4 x 2′ against Ajoie.
Notes: Bern without Lehmann, Lindholm (injured) or Nemeth (ill). Ajoie without Frossard, Patenaude, Rundqvist, Schmutz, Turkulainen (injured), Brennan (supernumerary foreigner), Conz, Minder nor Pouilly (supernumerary). Shot on the Honka post (2-3).
