Two months after sweating through preseason practices, teams in all sports except football have reached the postseason. By the end of the week, volleyball and field hockey will be playing tournament ball, while soccer is just a few days behind. Cross country has gone through conference championships and is now on to the county events.
In football, it might still be the regular season, but teams are playing with an eye toward the near future, when postseason slots will be earned and futures determined. Three of the Catholic schools play Friday night, while St. Elizabeth wraps up the weekend with a late afternoon tussle on Saturday.
Tickets for many events — including all DIAA postseason games — must be purchased online in advance. Dates, times and locations are subject to change.
Girls
Field hockey
Padua (4-10) at Ursuline (8-7), 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30
Division II first round
No. 11 Concord at No. 6 Archmere, 2 p.m.
No. 10 Tatnall at No. 5 Saint Mark’s, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2
Division II quarterfinals
Winner of Concord-Archmere at No. 3 Sussex Academy, 11 a.m.
Winner of Tatnall-Saint Mark’s at No. 2 Delmar, 11 a.m.
Volleyball
DIAA tournament first round
No. 22 Conrad (9-6) at No. 11 Archmere (8-7), 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2
DIAA tournament second round
Winner of Conrad-Archmere at No. 6 Newark Charter (11-4), 11 a.m.
Winner of No. 17 Middletown-No. 16 Cape Henlopen at No. 1 Padua (11-4), 6 p.m.
Winner of No. 21 Mount Pleasant-No. 12 MOT Charter at No. 5 Saint Mark’s (11-4), 6 p.m.
Winner of No. 18 Caesar Rodney-No. 15 Smyrna at No. 2 Ursuline (11-4), 6 p.m.
Cross country
Saturday, Nov. 2
Archmere, Padua, Saint Mark’s and Ursuline at New Castle County championships, time TBA at Winterthur Estate, Greenville
Boys
Football
Archmere (6-2) at Odessa (2-6), 7 p.m. The Auks travel south of the canal for a matchup with the Ducks. Archmere will try to rebound from just their second loss of the season against a team that has struggled on offense the past few weeks.
Middletown (6-2) at Saint Mark’s (3-5), 7 p.m. Tbe Spartans welcome the high-octane offense of Middletown for the last regular-season home game at the Graveyard this season. Saint Mark’s will need to try to keep the Cavs’ offense in check.
Hodgson (4-4) at Salesianum (7-1), 7:30 p.m. Hodgson is coming off an upset win at Appoquinimink, so the Sals would be wise to not take them lightly. Salesianum can clinch a top-2 seed in the state tournament by winning their district, and the clearest way to that is to win their final two regular-season games.
Saturday, Nov. 2
A.I. duPont (1-7) vs. St. Elizabeth (3-5), 4 p.m. at Abessinio Stadium. The Vikings are in the hunt for a Class 1A tournament berth, and they will need a win over the Tigers. The game, senior night for St. Elizabeth, has been moved up a few hours due to a scheduling conflict at Abessinio Stadium.
Soccer
Odyssey (6-6-1) vs. St. Elizabeth (0-12-1), 3:30 p.m. at Banning Park
Saint Mark’s (6-6-1) at Newark (5-9), 3:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29
Salesianum (9-4-1) at Archmere (7-6-1), 3:30 p.m.
McKean (5-7-1) at Saint Mark’s, 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 30
St. Paul’s at Ss. Peter and Paul, 4 p.m.
Christiana (7-4-1) vs. St. Elizabeth, 3:30 p.m. at Banning Park
Cross country
Saturday, Nov. 2
Archmere, Saint Mark’s, Salesianum and St. Elizabeth at New Castle County championships, time TBA at Winterthur Estate, Greenville