Dialog reporter
Padua Academy will seek its fourth consecutive state soccer championship beginning next week as the Pandas were named the top seed in Division I Wednesday night by the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association. The first round of the eight-team bracket will take place May 20 and 21 at sites and times to be announced.
Padua, which wrapped up a 14-0-1 regular season on Wednesday, will meet No. 8 Concord. The Raiders went 10-5 this year. The teams did not meet in the regular season.
The remainder of the first round matches are No. 7 Newark at No. 2 Caesar Rodney; No. 6 Appoquinimink at No. 3 Charter; and No. 5 Smyrna at No. 4 Sussex Tech. Semifinal matchups are scheduled for May 27, also at sites and times to be determined, and the final will be May 29 or 30 at Smyrna High School at 7 p.m.
In Division II, Archmere is the highest-seeded of the three Catholic schools to make the field. The Auks, who are 13-1-1, with the only loss coming to Padua, will meet the winner of No. 10 Ursuline and No. 7 Delmar on May 20 or 21 at a place and time to be announced.
Ursuline will play Delmar on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Smyrna High School. The Raiders take an 8-7 record against Delmar, which finished the regular season 10-4-1. The other Catholic school is St. Elizabeth. The Vikings (7-7-1) are the ninth-seed; they will meet No. 8 St. Georges (9-4-2) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Caravel Academy. The winner will battle top-ranked Caravel May 20 or 21 at a site and time to be announced.
The remainder of the first round includes No. 12 St. Andrews vs. No. 5 Delaware Military Academy on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Caravel, with the winner meeting No. 4 Wilmington Friends; and No. 11 Conrad vs. No. 6 Lake Forest on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Smyrna. The winner takes on No. 3 Indian River.
Semifinal matchups are scheduled for May 27, also at sites and times to be determined, and the final will be May 29 or 30 at Smyrna High School at 4 p.m. Tickets to the first and second rounds are $5. It will be $6 for the semis and $7 for the final. Tickets to the final can be purchased at diaa.ticketleap.com. The championship will be streamed live at www.nfhsnetwork.com/associations/diaa for a fee.
DIAA tournament apparel is available at diaa.teamip.com.
