ATTLEBORO - It may serve as an advantage to the Mansfield High field hockey team, but it will not be a foreign surface for the Attleboro High Bombardiers.

The Hornets and Bombardiers meet in the opening round of the MIAA Division 1 South Sectional Tournament Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 at Mansfield High's artificial turf surface at Alumni Field.

The Bombardiers, the No. 17 seeded team in the field of 18 for the Division 1 South Tournament, played - and won - a match at Durfee earlier in the season. AHS coach Sue Hamilton does not foresee a slick surface and a faster paced match, usually, as being detrimental to the expectations for advancement of the Bombardiers.

"When we played at Durfee on that surface, we moved the ball well," said Hamilton. "That turf was thick, so sometimes, it depends on the thickness of the carpet."

The Bombardiers and Hornets will be two of five area teams that have advanced into post-season play. Also in the Division 1 field are the Falcons of Dighton-Rehoboth (9-3-4), who have a tough first round foe in No. 6 seeded Hockomock League champion Oliver Ames (14-1-3) on Thursday afternoon. Both Foxboro and Seekonk are in the Division 2 South Sectional and have first round matches on the road. The No. 19 seeded Warriors (8-7-5) will travel to No. 14 Carver (11-7-2) on Wednesday, while the No. 10 seeded Warriors of Seekonk (9-2-7) have a match at No. 7 Cohasset (11-3-4) on Friday.

"Our (grass) field is so chopped up that for the good of the game, for the love of the game, we'll play on the turf," said Mansfield coach Theresa DeGirolamo. The Hornets are not actually at an advantage, having played a handful of matches on it, while practicing on grass.

"We don't get time to practice on it, but we will this week," said DeGirolamo of the mixed usage for the turf.

Erin Keogh (eight goals, four assists) and Victoria Clancy (eight goals, three assists) have been the leading point producers for Mansfield this season.

The Bombardiers are making their third straight post-season appearance under Hamilton. AHS lost a first round match to Barnstable in 2006. Juniors Charlotte Germain (six goals, seven assists) and Nicole Harvey (five goals) have been the Bombardiers' leading point producers.

The Bombardiers will have had better than a week between its final match of the regular season, Oct. 23 and the meeting with Mansfield.

"We're happy to still be playing," said Hamilton. "It's been a rebuilding year for us. We have a lot of underclassmen, but we have a lot of talent, a lot of athletes."

And Mansfield is aware of Attleboro too, "that's why we're getting toughened up to play them," said DeGirolamo.

As for Foxboro, coach Melissa Bordieri feels as though her team has been playing tournament-type games for at least the last week, having to play five games in five days last week, and needing to win the season-finale against King Philip just to get in. Of course, playing in the grinder of the Hockomock League makes for some high-intensity contest that'll get your team ready for the tournament.

"Playing in this league definitely prepares you for the tourney, it's definitely to our benefit," said Bordieri. "The league has four teams in the tournament, so there's proof right there." Bordieri admitted to not knowing much about her first-round opponent, "but I know they have one girl who is one of the leading scorers in the state. So they have one girl who scores a ton of goals and they play in a league that's not as strong as the Hockomock."

Regardless, Bordieri likes her team's chances especially after last year's tournament showing against a high-seeded Hopkinton team. "We were seeded 20th, they were sixth and we took them to triple overtime before losing 1-0," said Bordieri.

Lindsay Felix led Foxboro in scoring during the regular season while goalie Chelsea Davekos has stepped up her play.

during the stretch run to help the Warriors get in.