Highlanders Crush Kitzbühel

The Neuberg Highlanders secured second place in the Damen Eishockey Bundesliga (DEBL) standings with an 8-0 victory against EC "Die Adler" Kitzbühel on Sunday.

The Highlanders scored their first goal at the eight-minute mark as Jennifer Pesendorfer received the puck at the red line, skated past Kitzbühel's defenders with speed, and maneuvered the puck through the goalie.  Sabrina Schlauer scored the Highlanders' second goal eight minutes later.  The Highlanders ended the first period with a 2-0 lead.

Penalties at the start of the second period could have cost the game for the Highlanders, but the Highlanders managed to kill off three consecutive penalties and a 5-on-3 disadvantage.  After four Highlanders' penalties, Schlauer struck again to advance the lead 3-0.  The Highlanders ended the period with yet another goal from Pesendorfer.

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

In the third period, I skated down toward Kitzbühel's net and ripped a shot off the crossbar.  Recovering the rebound, I put the puck in the back of the net.  Nearly 30 seconds later, I scored my second goal of the game.  I won the faceoff at center ice and my team went down into Kitzbühel's defensive zone.  Chelsea Illchuk sailed the puck to me from the right corner, and I hit the puck into the net.  With a 6-0 advantage, Dayna Janzen added another tally to the scoreboard as Pesendorfer passed her the puck in front of the net and Janzen deked the goalie.  Pesendorfer earned another assist as she gave a pass to Schlauer in the final minute of play.  Schlauer scored the final goal for the Highlanders and earned her first hattrick of the season.

Four different Highlanders scored in the game (Schlauer 3, Pesendorfer 2, Davies 2, Janzen 1), and Highlanders' goaltender, Bianca Feeberger, earned her third straight shutout with Sunday's victory.  The Highlanders improved to an overall record of 8-1 and continued their winning streak to eight games.  Click here to view the DEBL standings.

The Highlanders travel to Klagenfurt on Saturday for their next game against DEC Dragons Klagenfurt. 

At the end of Sunday's match, the Highlanders celebrated their team manager's birthday.  Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" with sparklers in their hands and presented Margret Kraischek with a gift basket for her birthday!  Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Margret!  Danke für alles!

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

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Highlanders Defeat Triglav, Chance for Title

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

The Neuberg Highlanders beat Slovenia's HK Triglav Kranj, 2-0, on Saturday at Kapfenberg Eishalle.  The game remained even for the first half of the match.  The Highlanders scored their first goal in the second period, as Julia Willenshofer battled in front of the net to push the loose puck passed Triglav's goaltender.  Triglav attempted to tie the game but went unsuccessful.  In the final minute of play, I came onto the ice and poke-checked the puck away from Triglav's defender.  I suddenly found myself on a breakaway and secured the win with a goal.

With the victory, the Highlanders extended their winning streak to seven games.  They now safely hold the second place spot in the Damen Eishockey Bundesliga (DEBL) standings, with HDK Maribor in first place.  Maribor witnessed its first loss of the season on Saturday, as KHL Gric Zagreb beat them, 6-4.  With Maribor's loss, the Highlanders now have a chance for the title.  If the Highlanders continue to win the remainder of the season and beat Maribor, they will take the top seed.

 2012-13 DEBL Standings 

 

#	Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	GF	GA	P
1	HDK Maribor	9	8	1	0	0	64	25	24
2	Neuberg Highlanders	8	7	1	1	0	49	19	20
3	HK Triglav Kranj	7	5	2	2	0	29	21	13
4	KHL Gric Zagreb	7	4	3	0	0	43	36	12
5	DEC Dragons Klagenfurt	6	2	4	0	1	21	26	7
6	EC "Die Adler" Kitzbühel	9	2	7	0	1	25	37	7
7	EHV Sabres Wien II	9	2	7	0	1	29	58	7
8	Gipsy Girls Villach	9	2	7	0	0	26	64	6

The Highlanders return to action as they play EC "Die Adler" Kitzbühel on Sunday at Kapfenberg Eishalle at 4:30 p.m.

To view the Highlanders' player stats, click here.

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Christmas in Austria

Guten Tag!

Vienna Christmas Market

I have had some eventful past couple months.  I traveled back to America on Nov. 19 to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  After enjoying my time at home, I flew back to Austria on Dec. 12, arriving the next day.  I was very excited to spend Christmas and New Year's in Austria for the first time.  Since Austria doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving but it does celebrate Christmas, it made more sense to go home for Thanksgiving.  I was still able to have both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!  I was most excited to return to the Vienna Christmas market, or what Austrians call "Wiener Christkindlmarkt."  I was able to shop around for some Christmas gifts that I sent home to my family.  The package mostly consisted of Milka chocolate bars because my family absolutely adores them!  In addition to shopping, I was finally able to taste Glühwein!  This special drink only comes during the winter time in Austria and I have been waiting all year to taste it!  Glühwein is a traditional beverage that is offered during Christmas holidays in German-speaking countries.  It is prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, citrus, sugar, and some other ingredients.  It tastes like a hot apple cider but with alcohol, and it definitely warms you up on a cold winter day in Austria.

The Glühwein sure warmed me up when I visited a sheep farm on a mountain.  One of my teammate's parents own a sheep farm and invited me to see their two baby sheep.  The sheep were so adorable!  After seeing the sheep, my teammate's parents were sweet enough to make us some homemade Glühwein as well.  We walked a little farther up the mountain to their "garden hut," which are very popular in Austria, and we enjoyed each other's company as we sipped on the fresh Glühwein.  The hut reminded me of a little girl's playhouse.  It had a table surrounded by benches, a little stove/oven, and a cabinet full of Austrian liquors.  Well, everything reminded of a little girl's playhouse until I found the cabinet of alcohol.  I have noticed these huts all around Austria and I found that many Austrians use these huts to socialize with friends and family, and simply just to relax.  


I had another relaxing time when Christmas came around.  I was so happy to spend the holiday with my fiancé for the first time.  We celebrated the holiday on Dec. 24 because that's what people do here in Austria, which was different for me.  I also discovered that people go out to the bars on Christmas Day, so on the 24th, I went to the bar around 11 a.m. and surprisingly found the bar full of people!  This definitely was a change I had not been used to!  I sipped on champagne in the morning, then came home to have more champagne with our Christmas feast, which did not include a giant turkey.  We had an arrangement of food on the table with a huge cooking device in the middle of the table, called "raclette" or a "raclette grill."  It was almost like fondue, where everyone puts whatever they want to eat on the cooking device with a skewer or miniature frying pan.  It was an interesting experience but actually really fun! 

I have had a great time so far this winter, but I am most surprised by the weather.  It is not as cold as it was this time last year...thank God!  There is barely any snow, but I think it will get much colder later this month.  Although it's not that cold, my hockey team has been able to practice on our outdoor rink occasionally.  And let me tell you, it still gets pretty cold on the outdoor rink at night!  We had two friendly matches, one on the outdoor rink in Bruck and one on the outdoor rink in Langenwang.  Both games were just for fun, but it was good preparation for my team's next league game.

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

We had a home game on Dec. 23 against Gipsy Girls Villach.  We won 9-0.  The nine goals came from five different Highlanders.  I led the team with three goals while Julia Willenshofer and Sabrina Schlauer scored two goals each.  Evelyn Hochegger and Theresa Johann each had a goal as well.

We have our next game against HK Triglav Kranj on Saturday, Jan. 12 at Kapfenberg Eishalle at 4:30 p.m.  My roommates come back from Canada today after spending Christmas at home, and I can't wait to play some hockey with them again!

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Newspaper Article in WOCHE

"Highlanders Win in Kitzbühel"

WOCHE Newspaper

1. November 2012

"The Highlanders had played three minutes in Kitzbühel until Evelyn Hochegger had a jubilant goal after a pass from Julia Willenshofer.  It went in vein, as Chelsea Illchuk presented a hammer to make it 2-0 and in the 14th minute, Jennifer Pesendorfer increased the score to 3-0.  Just before the break, the Highlanders suffered a goal.  In the final two periods, Kitzbühel capitalized from mistakes in the back line of defense and led, 4-3.  With 80 seconds left in the game, Kelley Davies could still achieve the balance to tie the game.  After a scoreless overtime period, it was again Davies, who recovered in the shootout to give the Highlanders a 5-4 away victory."

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Mauthausen Concentration Camp

On Nov. 6, my roommates and I visited Mauthausen Concentration Camp, located in Upper Austria about 20 km from Linz.  The concentration camp initially was established as a single camp in 1938, but it expanded over time into the only category III concentration camp, the classification with the most brutal detention conditions.  Mauthausen had become one of the largest labor camp complexes in German-controlled Europe with approximately 85,000 inmates in 1945 and a death toll roughly between 122,766 and 320,000.  The inmates were put to labor as they worked in the quarries and on the construction of the camp.  The camp fulfilled two functions for the SS:  "to restrain political and ideological opponents of Nazism by interning, torturing and killing them and to act as a deterrent; and also to exploit their labour to the utmost" (en.mauthausen-memorial.at).

I watched movies and read books about German-controlled concentration camps, but it was a different experience actually seeing a camp.  I walked through the camp touring the different buildings.  I observed the sleeping quarters, the kitchen and laundry facilities, but worst of all, I was able to walk through the camp prison which also had the crematory located in the basement of the building.  Suddenly, the camp came alive for me as I set my eyes on the machine used to burn inmates' bodies.  I walked through the same path where the SS tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of people.  The SS used various methods to kill its victims.  Some inmates were beaten to death, hanged, or shot while sick inmates were frozen to death, starved, or killed by lethal injection or gas.  I toured the gas chamber then walked into the room where inmates were butchered.  The SS would cut out inked markings, or tattoos, on the skin of inmates and rip out gold teeth from their mouths.  It's unbelievably how people could be so cruel to other human beings!

As I kept strolling through the camp, I noticed several plaques, photos, and letters in memory of the people who suffered during this time.  I walked slowly down the "Wailing Wall," which was like a memorial with engraved, stone plagues indicating specific names of people who died.

At the end of the tour, I walked through the final building which detailed the history of the camp and the horrifying event.  Although the history was displayed in German writing on the poster boards, I was able to understand most of the event through the photographs.  It's amazing how these photographs even survived the event, but it was definitely sad to finally see these photos after touring the camp.  There were mostly men in the photos, who were stripped down to nothing.  It almost seemed like this was part of their ill-treatment, forced to pose nude for a photograph.  The photos left me disgusted at the people who treated these men with such disrespect.  The inmates looked as skinny as a toothpick, with every bone in their body popping out of their skin.  These photographs saddened both me and my roommates.

I left the concentration camp feeling depressed, but I learned a great deal after seeing the camp in person.  Although the experience was sad, it was also eye-opening.  I developed a greater appreciation for life, and simply all the things and people I have in my life.  An experience like this really makes a person feel grateful for all and everything.

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Halloween and a Hockey Weekend

Photo Courtesy of Axel Riegler

On Oct. 31, my roommates and I celebrated Halloween with some of our Austrian friends.  Although no one particularly celebrates Halloween in Austria and it is not considered a popular holiday, my roommates and I still dressed up.  My roommates wore togas as my fiancé (Michi Schmieder) and I were soldiers.  We all dressed up and headed to our friend's apartment for a little Halloween party before we went out to the bar.  Axel Riegler had decorated his apartment in Halloween ornaments and accessories.  This made my roommates and I feel as if we were all back home celebrating Halloween.  There were cobwebs, spiders, and candied eyeballs scattered everywhere.  Riegler made a fruit punch that consisted of freshly-cut watermelon pieces and some Austrian liquor (which was quite strong).  Riegler placed a frozen hand, made from a rubber glove containing strawberry fruit juice, into the punch and it was time to celebrate!  We all ate a giant pretzel sandwich and drank the blood-red drink.  We definitely enjoyed our time on Halloween night!

As the weekend approached, my roommates and I decided to go to Klagenfurt to see a professional ice hockey game.  Kate Wheeler's boyfriend, Chris D'Alvise, plays for HDD TELEMACH Olimpija Ljubljana, which is in the first league, Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL).  His team was playing KAC Klagenfurt on Sunday evening.  Schmieder actually had an ice hockey game with his team (ECE Bulls Kapfenberg) in Klagenfurt on Saturday night, so my roommates and I attended that game.  After the game, we all stayed the night at Schmieder's mother's apartment in Klagenfurt for we planned on attending D'Alvise's game the next day.  

Photo Courtesy of Chelsea Illchuk

The next morning, we woke up and drove to a nearby town, Velden.  Schmieder and I wanted to show my roommates the big lake in Carinthia (or Kärnten), called the Wörthersee.  We walked around the town and enjoyed the scenery of the lake before we had to go to the eishalle for the game.  We enjoyed watching D'Alvise's game but unfortunately, his team came up short as they lost 5-2.  Because of the National Hockey League (NHL) lockout, some NHL players were playing in the game we watched.  Klagenfurt defensemen, Tyler Myers, usually plays for the Buffalo Sabres while Klagenfurt forward, Sam Gagner, plays for the Edmonton Oilers.

It was a nice weekend watching hockey, but I think my roommates would agree with me when I say we are definitely looking forward to playing some of our own hockey.  Ten days until our next match against Vienna Sabres!

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Neuberg Highlanders Grab First Victory in Shootout

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

After traveling four hours on the bus, the Neuberg Highlanders won their first regular season game, 5-4, in a shootout against EC "Die Adler" Kitzbühel on Saturday.  The Highlanders took a 3-0 lead in the first 14 minutes of the game, with goals from Evelyn Hochegger, Chelsea Illchuk, and Jennifer Pesendorfer.  Neuberg seemed sure of the victory, but Kitzbühel kept fighting back as they put a tally on the scoreboard before the end of the first period.

The Eagles remained consistent in the second period as they added yet another tally.  The Highlanders entered the third period with a 3-2 lead and knew defense was the first priority.  Unfortunately, the Eagles tied the game 3-3 and later took their first lead of the game in the 49th minute.  Under pressure to regain control of the game, the Highlanders attempted to tie the game before the sound of the buzzer.  With just over one minute remaining in the game, Anna Johann gave me the puck at the far blue line and I skated alone toward the net.  I sailed the puck right, top corner to tie the game 4-4 and found myself celebrating with my fellow teammates.  From that moment, I knew we were not going to let Kitzbühel take the victory.

The game remained tied at the end of regulation forcing both teams into sudden-death overtime.  It was four-on-four in the overtime period, which allowed a lot of skating room for both teams.  Eventually, the referee called a penalty on each team, making it three-on-three and giving even more room on the ice.  Neither team scored in overtime, thus a shootout must determine one, ultimate winner.  Each team received one point for playing in an overtime period, but the team to win the shootout will receive an additional point for the game.

The Eagles took the first shot but did not score.  The Highlanders were next and sent Pesendorfer to shoot first.  She went unsuccessful.  The Eagles sent their next shooter but Highlanders' Bianca Feeberger kept them scoreless.  I was the next shooter for the Highlanders and scored right, top corner.  Feeling relieved, I hoped that Feeberger would stop the Eagles' next shot giving us the victory...and that, she did!  The Eagles' three shooters went scoreless, while the Highlanders' one shootout goal was enough to end the game!

The Highlanders earned two points from the match while they were also awarded an additional three points on Sunday.  The Highlanders were scheduled to play DEC Dragons Klagenfurt on Oct. 20, but Klagenfurt cancelled the game due to ill players.  The game failed to be rescheduled and will not be played; however, the Highlanders were given a victory and three points.

The Highlanders have a total of five points on the season after completing three matches.  The team is currently in fifth place out of eight teams.  We have scored 13 goals total while allowing 10 goals against.  To view a full list of the Damen Eishockey Bundesliga (DEBL) standings, click here.

The Neuberg Highlanders return to action as they are scheduled to play their first home game against EHV Sabres Wien II on Nov. 18 at 4:30 p.m. at Kapfenberg Eishalle. 

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