After more than two months of competition, the busiest of the high school sports seasons winds to an end this week. The Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association will wrap up its baseball, boys lacrosse and girls soccer championships by the end of the week if the weather cooperates. Golfers will take to the links at Odessa National on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.
Links to each of the state tournament brackets are available at the DIAA website. All tickets must be purchase online; a link to that site can be found at the DIAA site as well. A few of these upcoming battles are rematches of regular-season games and promise to be worth the price of admission.
Girls
Soccer
Wednesday
No. 3 Saint Mark’s (14-2) at No. 2 Archmere (13-2-1), 4 p.m. For the second straight season, the Spartans and Auks meet in the DIAA Division II semifinals. Last year, the Spartans, playing at home, advanced to the final, but the tables have turned this season, with Archmere getting the home game. The teams met on April 8, with the Auks winning a 4-3 thriller on a goal in the last minute of play, after the Spartans had battled back from a 3-1 second-half deficit.
No. 3 Padua (11-4) at No. 2 Caesar Rodney (13-3), 7 p.m. The Pandas travel to Camden to meet the Riders in a Division I semifinal. These teams battled on April 11 in Hockessin, with Padua scoring three first-half goals on the way to a 3-1 win. They last met in the postseason in 2019, with the Pandas defeating CR in the semifinals.
Friday
Saint Mark’s-Archmere winner vs. Newark Charter-Caravel winner for the Division II state championship, 5 p.m. at Alumni Stadium at Delaware State University
Padua-Caesar Rodney winner vs. Wilmington Charter-Middletown winner for the Division I state championship, 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Stadium at Delaware State University
Boys
Baseball
Tuesday
No. 5 Saint Mark’s (14-5) at No. 4 Salesianum (15-4), 4 p.m. No strangers, the Spartans and Sals will play for the third time this season to determine who moves on to the DIAA semifinals. Each team has a win against the other on its home field. This is the first postseason meeting between the rivals since 2007
Thursday
Saint Mark’s-Salesianum winner vs. No. 9 Sussex Tech-No. 1 Cape Henlopen winner, either 4 or 7 p.m., Frawley Stadium, Wilmington
Saturday
State championship, 7 p.m., Frawley Stadium, Wilmington
Lacrosse
Wednesday
No. 5 Cape Henlopen (13-3) vs. No. 1 Archmere (16-1), 5:30 p.m. at Abessinio Stadium. The Auks stay close to home to battle the Vikings, who will enter this game as the favorite despite the seeding. Archmere looks to be the first finalist that is not either Cape Henlopen or Salesianum since 2018, when Caesar Rodney battled the Sals.
No. 3 Sanford (15-2) at No. 2 Salesianum (13-4), 7:30 p.m. These are two squads that tend to score a lot, so the result may come down to which team gets better defense and goalkeeping. The Warriors came within a goal of reaching the finals last year, so that memory will be fresh in their minds.
Friday or Saturday
Cape Henlopen-Archmere winner vs. Sanford-Salesianum winner, time and location TBA
