The regular season of the playoffs group in the Croatian League has ended. The 14th round didn’t bring changes in the standings.
The only open question had been which team would finish 3rd. Mladost remained in 3rd place, although it lost to Primorje.
Jadran Split had secured 1st place, ahead of Jug, before the last round.
2022/23 Croatian League, Day 14
Group 1st – 5th place
Primorje – Mladost 15:12 (6:5, 3:4, 2:2, 4:1)
Primorje:Da.Brguljan 5, Te Riele 3, Brubnjak 3, Babic 3, Toncinic 1.
HAVK Mladost:Gluhaic 3, Rakovac 3, Elez 2, Dadvani 2, Jelaca 1, Adeishvili 1,
Jadran S – Solaris 12:8 (3:4, 3:1, 4:2, 2:1)
Jadran Split: Marinic-Kragic 3, Cagalj 2, Duzevic 2, Buric 2, Pejkovic 1, Bukic 1, Tomasovic 1.
Solaris: Erak 2, Jakovcevic 2, Krekovic 2 , Penava 1, Burburan 1
Jug bye
Before the last round, three points separated Mladost and Primorje. The Zagreb-based side beat Primorje 15:8 in the first part of the season. Therefore, Primorje needed an 8-goal win at home to climb to 3rd place.
Primorje took all three points, but it wasn’t close to a big victory. The hosts had a two-goal advantage late into the 1st quarter (6:4). Still, Mladost caught up with the rival and went ahead second quarter (8:7, 9:8, 10:9). Primorje leveled on all three occasions. Midway through the third quarter, Mladost went ahead for the last time (11:10). The teams were tied at 11:11 before the final period. Four and a half minutes, Primorje rebuilt a 2-goal lead. Shortly after, Mladost halved the deficit. Primorje secured a 3-goal lead with two goals in the 56 seconds.
Jadran started slowly in the game against Solaris, which led 4:3 and 5:4. Still, the favorite took control. Jadran earned a 2-goal advantage early in the third (7:5) and doubled its advantage until the end.
1.Jadran S 13 games – 37 points
2. Jug AO 13 – 34
3. HAVK Mladost 13 – 24
4. Primorje 13 – 24
5. Solaris 13 – 15
Group 6th – 12th place
Medvescak – KPK Korcula 13:7 (3:1, 2:3, 4:2, 4:1)
Medvescak: Busic 3, Ljepava 3, Simunovic 3, Miljak 2, Car 1, Gavranic 1.
KPK Korcula: Bjelopera 3, Begovic 1, Joudrie 1, Denoble 1, Fabris 1.
Zadar 1952 – Mornar 11:13 (2:2, 3:4, 2:1, 4:6)
Zadar 1952: Jovancevic 4, Zelic 2, Radi 1, Cacic 1, Dondjivic 1, Eskinja 1.
Mornar BS: Buselic 3, Guduric 3, D.Akrap 2, Cumbelic 2, Omrcen 1, Buzdovancic 1, Mise 1.
POSK bye
There were no surprises in the group for the classification 6th – 10th place. Mornar and Medvescak collected new points.
Mornar, Medvescak and 8th-placed POSK will play in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. KPK Korcula and Zadar will face off in the relegations playoffs (for 9th place)
Pairs of the quarterfinals (best of two), March 18 and 29: POSK – Jadran S, Medvescak – Jug, Mornar – Mladost, Solaris – Primorje.
6.Mornar 13 – 21
7.Medvescak 13 – 16
8. POSK 13 – 11
9. KPK Korcula 13 – 5
10. Zadar 1952 13 – 3
