BENU Women's Hungarian Cup: UVSE-FTC final again

Kata Hajdú opened the first semifinal with a quick action goal, and although Dunaújváros responded quickly, two more UVSE goals followed, one from Hajdú with a penalty, and Eszter Varró increased the lead of the purple and yellows to 3-1. The second quarter continued in a similar fashion, with Dorina Dobi scoring, but then UVSE pulled ahead by three, with Aubéli Tekla effectively playing in the center, delivering two goals in 33 seconds, both of which were converted by Kamilla Faragó. Dobi also scored from a penalty, but at 0:40, Hajdú also scored from another advantage, so UVSE confidently led 7-4 at halftime.

Although at the beginning of the third quarter, Krisztina Garda made a nearly impossible lob from almost half court when there were 0.3 seconds left on the shot clock, and the ball went in, soon the purples could have scored another goal… However, Zoé Lendvay hit the post, and then Karnaukh blocked a shot, completely changing the course of the game… Because soon after a saved ball, at the end of a dying lead, Brigitta Horváth managed to score from the side, 36 seconds later Garda scored a penalty shot, then from a blocked UVSE shot, the Dunaújváros team started a counterattack, and through Nóra Sümegi, they took the lead. The three goals they conceded within 63 seconds shook the purples, nearly six minutes later they came back to life with Panna Tiba's go-ahead goal, but Kriszta Garda took control and scored another penalty, so before the final quarter, Dunaújváros had the lead (8-9).

The first four minutes of the fourth quarter brought intense action, as it seemed that the players from Újpest were shooting a bit hesitantly to the former experienced goalkeeper of the Russian national team, hitting the post several times, or when it was not Karnaukh making the saves (including a shot from Hajdú while in advantage), on the other end, Szonja Golopencza prevented the rival's lead from increasing. Finally, Panni Szegedi found the gap - a post-in goal was needed for this, but it didn't stay that way for long, as Dominika Kardos shot back to the near post after numerous rebounds, and DFVE was in the lead again.

It was crucial when Karnaukh reached for Faragó's pass, and another purple advantage was granted, as the center plays were executed fairly accurately by Újpest - the only issue was that they wasted three penalties in this quarter, and with 1:27 left, they didn't have much room for mistakes... To their credit, they patiently persevered, and Eszter Mácsai expertly placed the ball in Aubéli's hand, who neatly put it away, equalizing the score to 10-10 with 1:08 left.

The truly dramatic events followed: the Újváros players managed to create a man-up opportunity, but they managed to block Dobi's shot 20 seconds before the final buzzer... And from there, Tiba gathered enough momentum to go alone towards the goal, Dobi tried to chase her from behind, but she couldn't avoid the penalty shot - and Faragó calmly converted, thus UVSE once again reached the final.

In the second match, Ferencváros was clearly the favorite, and the greens signaled with two quick goals within 1:47 minutes that they wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. However, BVSC, through Panna Petik, started scoring goals after four minutes, and although Eleftheria Plevritou immediately responded, Petik reduced the deficit again three minutes later.

The second quarter unfolded in a similar manner, with Ferencváros leading 5-2 after just over two minutes with two extra-man goals - but it was as if they hit a wall. Petik then reappeared, first scoring a five-meter goal, then causing havoc with a free throw, almost single-handedly standing up to the favorite. Ferencváros finally scored another goal with 12 seconds left before the buzzer - nearly six minutes after the last goal - Plevritou hit the ball into Krisztina Kakas' hands, which ended up in the net, resulting in a 4-6 score at halftime.

The Greek star started the third quarter with a much smoother shot, but the calmness of the greens didn't last long. Following Petik, the goals came from Tóth, first Fruzsina, then Frida hit the target from the wrong hand, reheating the game in 36 seconds (6-7). BVSC had two chances to equalize, but they failed to create serious danger from either attack. On the other hand, after Szonja Kuna's excellent pass, Dóra Leimeter scored a fantastic backhand goal. However, a prompt response followed, as Dalma Dömsödi first got a penalty, then scored from the field, meaning there was still only one goal difference. Moreover, after the greens fouled Kakas for the next extra-man situation, BVSC called a timeout and also had six against five - but this time Boglárka Neszmély made a save, initiating a counterattack, with Plevritou showing no mercy. Twenty-seven seconds later, there was another turnover, Kakas made a great save against the Greek's attempt, but the rebound belonged to the attacker, who passed it to Gréta Gurisatti, and suddenly the score was 7-10. Despite this, Mark Matajsz wasn't really happy when the buzzer ended his team's final quarter man-up opportunity after calling a timeout.

Nevertheless, the excitement gradually waned from the game, as the "home team" hit the post on their first man-up opportunity in the final quarter, while Ferencváros scored another backhand goal through Gurisatti from the counterattack, extending the favorite's lead by four - and it didn't diminish, as Neszmély denied Petik's five-meter shot. Gurisatti's action goal even reassured the most pessimistic Ferencváros fans. However, on this evening, the green's extra-man plays were harmed by the timeout, after the first "hurried" attempt, the second resulted in a bad pass within about two seconds... Nevertheless, Neszmély made fantastic saves in two disadvantages, then stopped Nadin Koltay's penalty shot; as a bonus, Hanga Szalkai also scored, thus preparing for another final against UVSE, as the Ferencváros team was victorious in all 20 competitive matches this season so far - similar to the men's team.

BENU Women's Hungarian Cup, Final Four

Semifinals

UVSE-Helia D–Dunaújváros 11-10

BVSC-Manna ABC-FTC-Telekom 7-13

Saturday's schedule

16:45 - Bronze Medal Match: DFVE–BVSC

19:30 - Cup Final: UVSE–FTC