Four teams from Budapest – Ferencvaros, OSC, Vasas, and Honved – will play in the semifinals of the playoffs in the Hungarian League. The regular season finished today.
Two rounds before the end, Ferencvaros secured 1st and OSC 2nd place. Before the last matchday, Vasas, Szolnok and Honved were contenders for the remaining two semifinal spots.
Vasas and Szolnok faced off in the derby in Budapest, while Honved visited Szeged.
Vasas defeated Szolnok in a close contest – 11:9 and kept 3rd place.Honved beat Szeged convincingly (11:6) and moved from 5th to 4th place. Szolnok, which was among the top 4 for almost the entire season, dropped to 5th place and won’t play in the semifinals. It will battle in the 5th-place playoffs.
Ferencvaros will play against Honved in the semifinals, OSC’s rival will be Vasas. The points from the mutual encounters in the regular seasons will be carried to the playoffs. The team that wins 7 points advances to the finals. Vasas and Honved will have demanding tasks because OSC and Ferencvaros will enter the semifinals with six points each. Vasas and Honved start from zero. But, there are no ties in the playoffs. If the match ends in a tie, a penalty shootout will decide the winner.
Several interesting matches in today’s 26th round caused some ups and downs in the standings.
2022/23 Hungarian League, Day 26
Vasas – Szolnok 11:9 (3:2, 1:2, 3:2, 4:3)
Vasas: Konarik 4, Erdelyi 3, Batori 1, Selley Rauscher 1, Gabor 1, Nagaev 1.
Szolnok: Pasztor 3, Szeghalmi 3, Ger. Kovacs 2, Zs. Vismeg 1.
Szeged – Honved 6:11 (0:3, 2:3, 2:3, 2:2)
Szeged: Leinweber 3, Kurti 1, Toth 1, Lakatos 1.
Honved: Hosnyanszky 3, Zs.Ekler 3, Gregor 2, Fejos 1, P.Sugar 1, Kevi 1.
Eger – Ferencvaros 8:14 (3:2, 2:3, 2:6, 1:3)
Eger: Krijestorac 3, Spitz 2, Gab.Kovacs 1, Baksa 1, Doczi 1.
Ferencvaros: D. Varga 5, Jansik 3, A.Nagy 2, Ubovic 2, Fekete 1, B.Varga 1.
Miskolc – Kaposvar 10:11 (2:3, 4:1, 2:4, 2:3)
Miskolc: Varkonyi 3, Borockzy 2, Krasznai 2, Oltean 1, N.Nagy 1, Brkic 1
Kaposvar: Takacs 2, Berta 2, Petrovski 2, Langiewicz 2, Vindisch 1, F.Pellei 1, Kakstedter 1.
Szentes – UVSE 10:10 (4:3, 2:3, 3:1, 1:3)
Szentes: Hegedus 3, Matyok 2, Hajdu 2, Bozo 2, Vasic 1.
UVSE: Korenyi 3, Tamas 3, Korbacs 2, Bencz 1, Garancsy 1.
BVSC – PVSK Pecs 13:8 (5:2, 4:3, 2:0, 2:3)
BVSC: P. Kovacs 3, Cs.Meszaros 2, K.Sziladi, M.Meszaros, A.Csacsovszky 1, Csapo 1, M.Nagy 1, Gyarfas 1.
PVSK Pecs: Koloszi 4, Kereszturi 3, Gaszt 1.
KSI – OSC Budapest 10:18 (4:2, 1:4, 3:5, 2:7)
KSI: Szalai 3, M.Benedek 2, Irmes 1, Lantos 1, Bede 1, Ak.Nagy 1, Szepfalvi 1.
OSC Budapest: Angyal 6, E.Csacsovszky 4, K.Manhercz 3, Vin.Vigvari 2, Toth 1, Aranyi 1, Kondor 1.
Honved did a clean job in Szeged. The visitors took a flying start. After the first quarter, the Budapest-based team had a 3:0 advantage. By the middle of the second period, Honved increased the margin to four (5:1). Two minutes before the middle break, veteran Norbert Hosnyanszky made it 6:1 and Honved proved that it had prepared for the match properly and that it wouldn’t miss a chance to earn a spot in the playoffs. Midway through the third period, Honved led 9:3. In the last 12 minutes, the visitors controlled the game, recorded an 11:6 victory and qualified for the playoffs for the title. Regardless of the result of the match Vasas – Szolnok, Honved cemented the 4th place.
Two hours after the game in Szeged, the derby Vasas – Szolnok started. Vasas needed a point to keep 3rd place. Since Honved took three points in Szeged, Szolnok had to beat Vasas to qualify for the playoffs. If Szolnok had won, it would have climbed to 3rd place, while Vasas would have dropped to 5th place and lost a spot in the playoffs.
Vasas earned a 3:1 at the finish of the first period, but Szolnok leveled the score at 3:3 and again at 4:4, so the sides were tied at halftime. Vasas rebuilt a 2-goal lead in the first four minutes of the second half (6:4), but Szolnok replied with two quick goals and equalized once more (6:6). Still, Akos Konarik, the man of the match, closed the third period with an action goal for 7:6. Early in the fourth quarter, he added another goal, this time from a man-up and Vasas had a 2-goal lead for the first time after the first period (8:6). In the last seven minutes, the teams exchanged the goals. Szolnok halved the deficit. Still it couldn’t equalize. Fifty seconds before the end, Szolnok’s Matyas Pasztor converted a penalty for 9:10. It was too late for a comeback. Vasas earned a man-up 24 seconds before the end and it was clear which team would win. Four seconds from the end, a penalty shot was awarded to the hosts. Balazs Erdelyi sent the ball into the net from the 5m line and set the final score.
Playoffs
1st-4th place, semifinals (a team that wins 7 points goes to the final): Ferencvaros – Honved (Ferencvaros starts with 6 points, Honved with no points), OSC – Vasas (6:0)
5th – 8th place (a team that wins 7 points goes to the 5th-place match):Szolnok – Miskolc (6:0), BVSC – Eger (3:3)
9th – 12th place (a team that wins 7 points goes to the 9th-place match): UVSE – PVSK (3:3), Szeged – Kaposvar (2:2)
There are no ties in the playoffs. A penalty shootout will determine the winner if a match ends in a draw.
Eger welcomed Ferencvaros in the match in which the home side needed at east a draw to keep 6th place. Eger started very well. In the 11th minute, the hosts had a 3-goal advantage (5:2). But, after that, Ferencvaros, led by Denes Varga produced a 6:0 run in nine minutes and earned a 8:5 advantage. Eger’s hope was still alive until the end of the third quarter. The home team reduced the gap twice (6:8, 7:9). However, Ferencvaros netted two goals in the last minute of the third period, and added three more in the first three minutes of the final quarter to go to a safe 14:7 lead.
Ferencvaros and OSC need only one win each in the semifinals to reach the final. Vasas and Honved will advance to the final if they beat their rivals thrice.BVSC defeated PVSK 13:8 and caught up with Eger in points. Since BVSC has a better goal-difference in the head-to-head matches with Eger, the team from Budapest climbed to 6th place.
Kaposvar narrowly beat Miskolc 11:10 thanks to a last-gasp goal. Early in the third period, Miskoc was three steps ahead (7:4). However,Kaposvar produced a big comeback, scoring four straight goals, and went ahead – 8:7. Miskolc retook the lead at the beginning of the fourth period (9:8). Before the final minute, the ides were tied at 10:10. Twelve seconds before the end, Aleksa Petrovski scored a winner for Kaposvar.
Despite the loss, Miskolc stayed in 8th place, while the victory didn’t help Kaposvar to move from 11th position.
Three teams ranked 9th – 11th finished the regular season with 23 points – UVSE, Szeged, Kaposvar.
UVSE is the best in this three-way tie and won 9th place ahead of Szeged and Kaposvar. Today, UVSE took a point in an away match against Szentes – 10:10. Szentes led most of the match, while UVSE chased the rival. Gabor Korbacs scored an equalized in the 31st minute – 10:10 and secured an important point for UVSE.
OSC started slowly against last-placed KSI, but recorded a 18:10 victory. KSI opened the match with a 3:1 lead and maintained the difference until 5:3. OSC scored the last three goals in the first half and enterer the second half with a slim 6:5 advantage. Before the final quarter, OSC led 11:8 and dominated in the final period. KSI will move to the 2nd league.
1. Ferencvaros 26 games – 76 points
2. OSC Budapest 26 – 70
3. Vasas 26 – 60
4. Honved 26 – 57
5. Szolnok 26 – 55
6. BVSC 26 – 46*
7. Eger 26 – 46*
8. Miskolc 26 – 27
9. UVSE 26 – 23**
10. Szeged 26 – 23**
11. Kaposvar 26 – 23**
12. PVSK 26 – 14
13. Szentes 26 – 8
14. KSI 26 – 5
* Head to head: BVSC – Eger 17:10 and 14:16
**Three-way tie (points in the encounters between the three teams): UVSE 7 points, Szeged 5, Kaposvar 3 pts.
Szentes will play in the relegation playoffs. KSI is relegated to the 2nd league.
