Mladost returns to national throne with dominant finals performance

Mladost claimed its 12th Croatian championship title in a dominant fashion.

The regular season saw several exciting encounters between the top four teams (Mladost Jadran, Jug, Primorje). But, in the final series, it left little chance for defending champion Jadran, which won the three consecutive national championships (2023 – 2025).

After a 19:14 victory in the first match and a 17:12 win in the second game, the Zagreb side completed the job today by beating Jadran 24:18 in the third act of the final.

Mladost won its first Croatian championships after five years, and also clinched the “double crown”,. It won the Croatian Cup in November.

Jadran reached three finals this season but lost all of them: the Croatian Cup, the Euro Cup, and the Croatian League.

As the season progressed, the Split-based team ran out of energy, while Mladost hit a high level of form. This imbalance led to a one-sided contest in the first half of the third game of the final, which was vital to the outcome, despite Mladost, the home team, having ups and downs. The hosts earned a significant advantage in the first half and successfully thwarted Jadran’s attempts to make a comeback. Between the 19th and 24th minutes, Jadran scored seven unanswered goals. However, Mladost had already established a 10-goal lead before that.

The first quarter suggested the game would be a high-scoring, exciting battle. Mladost took a 4:1 lead by the middle of the first period. Jadran quickly cut its deficit to two (2:4). Following that, the teams traded goals for a few minutes. Toni Radan scored the fifth goal for Jadran in the 7th minute to cut his team’s deficit to two goals for the last time (5:7). In the dying seconds of the first quarter, Franko Lazic made it 8:5 with a man-up.

After the first break, Mladost started dominating. The hosts stormed to a 13:5 lead. Berehulak broke Mladost’s series with a powerplay goal in the 14th minute. However, Mladost responded with a 3:0 run, building a double-digit lead already in the 16th minute (16:6). Jadran scored the last two goals in the first half, but there was no way back for the visitors.

Mladost reestablished a 10-goal lead with two goals from Luka Bukic in the opening minutes of the third period (18:8). Only then did Jadran start waking up, going on a 7:0 run. Before the final period, the Split-based team trailed by three goals (15:18).

But, Mladost, led by Luka Bukic, who had a perfect shot percentage (7 goals from 7 shots), retook control in the final period. The teams exchanged goals until 21:18. Matias Biljaka scored three goals in the last five minutes to seal Mladost’s 24:18 win.

Two coaches led Mladost this season. In April, Zoran Bajic was dismissed and replaced by his assistant Hrvoje Hrestak. Bajic will coach Novi Beograd in the next season. After the new title, Mladost’s roster will be changed. It has already been announced that Ivan Marcelic and Josip Vrlic will leave Mladost and move to Radnicki. Luka Loncar and Konstantin Kharkov will play for Olympiacos, but an official confirmation is still missing. In the coming days, we’ll see if there will be more departures.

As for Jadran, Marko Bijac will probably return to Pro Recco. According to many sources, Loren Fatovic will be Loncar’s and Kharkov’s teammate at Olympiacos, the team coached by his father Elvis.

2026 Croatian league, playoffs

Final (best of five), Game 3

Mladost – Jadran 24:18 (8:5, 8:3, 2:7, 6:3) – the final score in the series 3:0

Mladost: Bukic 7, Biljaka 5, Kharkov 4, Radulovic 3, Tonicic 1, Buljubasic 1, Lazic 1, Vrlic 1, Vukicevic 1.

Jadran S: Marinic Kragic 4, Berehulak 4, Fatovic 3, Butic 1, Duzevic 2, Nemet 1, Matkovic 1, Radan 1

3rd-place playoffs (best of three), Game 2

Jug AO – Primorje EB 12:8 (3:0, 3:3, 4:1, 2:4) – the final score in the series 2:0

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