BVSC climb to second as Hungarian League regular season concludes

The regular season in the upper group of the Hungarian League has wrapped up, setting the stage for the playoffs—with just one key change in the final standings.

Even before the last round, the top four was locked in: Ferencváros TC, BVSC-Zugló, Budapesti Honvéd SE, and Szolnoki Dózsa had all secured semifinal spots. However, the final round reshuffled the order slightly, with BVSC overtaking Honvéd to claim second place.

The biggest shock came in Szeged, where Szegedi VE edged Honvéd in a remarkable contest. The match ended 19:19 in regular time before Szeged triumphed 6:5 in the penalty shootout, sealing a dramatic 25:24 win. Mark Spitz delivered a standout performance, scoring seven goals in regulation—including a last-gasp equaliser with seven seconds remaining—before adding another in the shootout. Bendegúz Ekler led Honvéd with six goals, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the slip.

That result opened the door for BVSC, who took full advantage. Hosting Szolnok, BVSC delivered a dominant 19:12 victory, powered by five goals from Nika Shushiashvili. The win lifted them into second place, pushing Honvéd down to third heading into the semifinals.

At the top, Ferencváros completed a flawless regular season with a commanding 20:9 win over OSC Budapest. Gergő Fekete led the scoring with six goals, but the headline moment was the return of Dušan Mandić. Back after nearly two months out injured, Mandić made an immediate impact with three goals, boosting Ferencváros ahead of the निर्णcing playoff phase.

Elsewhere, Egri VK defeated Vasas SC 16:14 in a penalty shootout, though the result had no bearing on the standings. Vasas had already missed out on the semifinals, while Eger remained eighth.

Playoff picture set

The semifinals begin next week, with a unique format: points from mutual encounters carry over, and the first team to reach seven points advances to the final. Drawn matches will be decided by penalty shootouts.

Ferencváros enter their semifinal against Szolnok with a commanding 6:0 points advantage, meaning they could secure a place in the final after just one match. In contrast, the clash between BVSC and Honvéd is finely balanced at 3:3, guaranteeing at least two matches in that series.

In the 5th–8th playoffs, Vasas hold a 4:2 edge over Eger, while OSC and Szeged are locked at 3:3.