Archmere and Saint Mark’s have earned spots in the 12-team DIAA Division II field hockey postseason tournament. Both will begin play on Oct. 30 at home.
Archmere, the sixth seed, will host No. 11 Concord at 2 p.m. The Auks finished the regular season at 11-4, with wins over Division II tournament qualifiers Saint Mark’s, Tower Hill and Tatnall, along with Division I participant Wilmington Charter. All four of their losses came against teams seeded higher than them: Division II’s Wilmington Friends, Caravel and Newark Charter, and Smyrna of Division I.
The Auks are led on offense by seniors Maura Read, Carly Polsky and Layla Clark. Their classmate, Caeli McAlonan, has posted seven shutouts in goal.
Concord finished the regular season 8-6. The winner will travel to Georgetown to meet No. 4 Sussex Academy on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The teams last played in the first game of the 2022 season, a 3-0 Archmere win.
Saint Mark’s earned the seventh seed with a record of 11-4. They will host the 10th seed, Tatnall, also at 2 p.m. The Spartans defeated tournament participants Caravel and Concord from Division II, and St. Georges and Milford of Division I. As with Archmere, all four of their losses came against teams seeded above them in the postseason: Newark Charter, Archmere and Sussex Academy of Division II, and Wilmington Charter of Division I.
Kate Hanich and Alaina Papa, both seniors, and Emersyn O’Leary, a junior, are among a group of Spartans that have provided offense. Junior Cate Jones pitched nine shutouts in goal this season.
Tatnall finished the regular season 7-7-1. Awaiting the winner of this game is No. 2 Delmar on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Hornets and Spartans last met in September 2022, with Tatnall getting a 4-0 victory.
Tickets to both games are $5 and must be purchased in advance at https://gofan.co/app/school/DIAA.
