DAPHNE, Alabama — Tonight Fairhope travels to Daphne for another classic arch rival showdown between the Trojans and Pirates, set for 7:30 p.m.

Fairhope beat Daphne 1-0 on March 1 to interrupt the Trojans' 2012 opening win streak at nine, DHS bounced back to beat McGill-Toolen 1-0, but the Yellow Jackets knotted it up three ways with a 1-0 win at Fairhope.

Daphne (14-1) head coach Rick Andrew said his team has had to nurse some injuries along the way, but hopes to be near full strength tonight.

“We've had some people pretty banged up, but then we've had some guys step up and fill those shoes,” he said. “And I'm proud of all the guys for working hard and their enthusiasm and attitude is great. But we have our hands full coming up with Fairhope and then McGill and Robertsdale again. You know, we don't take anybody for granted and those are all good teams. With Fairhope, the intensity is like automatic, it's built in. But we have to play smart as well as with heart. Coach Stroud always has a good game plan. We pretty much know each other when it comes to tactics and strategies. And these kids know each other on and off the field. A lot of them play together for club, against each other for school. It makes for a very competitive match up every time.”

The top four teams advance to the 6A state playoffs with the top two holding home-field advantage. Stroud said the outcome Tuesday may be a predictor of the final standings. But he expects a struggle for the top spot to take the rest of the regular season to settle.

“We are going there (Daphne) Tuesday night with them and McGill and us all tied. I told my guys that game will go along way toward determining where we finish. Daphne is tough, they are tough at home. Their field dimensions hurt us sometimes with how we like to play. You know where we play, we train a certain way and with them it the same for their field. The fact that we do have different home field (sizes) and play different styles is probably what makes our games so exciting. That and whenever two good teams have playoff goals, it makes for hard fought play and of course there's the rivalry. I know coach Andrew will have his team well prepared. But we'll work on getting ready for their field and do a few other things for them as much as we can to be ready.”

The girls varsity match kicks off earlier at 5:30 p.m. Daphne is 8-1, Fairhope is 6-2 in region play.