Bishop Guertin's Carly Green, left, battles Nashua South's Brooke Berger for the ball during the regular season. The Cards head to Exeter today to face the Blue Hawks in the Division I prelims. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

It’s officially tourney time – for high school field hockey, that is.

The NHIAA field hockey tournament gets underway today, with two local teams in action, Bishop Guertin and Merrimack, in the Division I prelims.

The No. 9, 8-8 Cards will head to Exeter today for a 2:30 matchup with the No. 8 Blue Hawks while the No. 10 Tomahawks (7-8-1) will be at No. 7 Timberlane of Plaistow (9-6-1).

“We’re super excited heading into the playoffs,” BG coach Dakota Bilodeau said. “We feel like we are hitting our stride and excited for (today).”

The other two locals will have to wait until this Sunday to play, believe it or not, in the Division II quarterfinals. Souhegan is the top seed at 14-1-1 and they’ll hose the winner of the Thursday prelim between No.9 Merrimack Valley and No. 8 Kingswood.

“We’re super excited to have the top seed but also realize that comes with everyone’s target being on our backs,” Sabers coach Kelli Braley said. “We’re ready for the challenge and will continue to do what we have done well this season: have fun, support each other, continue to push the pace and look to dictate play in all areas.”

Defending champion No. 5 Hollis Brookline (12-3-1) already knows its opponent, as it will have to head to Durham to face No. 4 Oyster River (13-2-1).

Here’s a look:

DIVSION I

If they can pull the upset, the Cards, who fell to Exeter 3-0 during a four-game losing streak, then they get to visit No. 1 defending champion Keene – whom they faced last year in the same round – in the quarters. Guertin has been led offensively by Addison Dadonna and snapped that bad streak with a huge 2-1 road win over No. 3 Londonderry. Carly Green, Sofia Harrington and Lola Dumont have also been factors for BG this season.

“We finished the season with a win and some momentum going into the postseason,” Bilodeau said. “We get on the bus (today) to familiar territory, Bill Ball Stadium. We know they (the Blue Hawks) are a great program so we have been preparing and working hard to go go face them.”

The Tomahawks, meanwhile, lost to the Owls 2-1 at home way back on Sept. 5. They will end up going to face No. 2 Bedford (14-1-1) in Friday’s quarters if they win. Young scorers Allie Wyand, Grace Massey and Geneieve Hill have been keys for the ‘Hawks.

DIVISON II

The Sabers are looking to make it two area teams in a row winning the title. The Ori/Megahn Dart-led (among others) team won at Merrimack Valley 3-0 the day after Labor Day, but did not play Kingswood. Their lone loss was to Oyster River 4-3 with the tie to Bow. They’d face either the Bobcats or the Cavs in the semis if they take care of business on Sunday. Souhegan beat Hollis 1-0 last Friday to close the regular season with a goal by Ori Dart while Sabers Mariela Dart, Bella Preston and Abby Mayo controlled the midfield. That’s what it’s all about.

But still, they have to wait 10 days from that game to play again.

“Having the first round bye gives us a chance to take time to heal, prepare and look to reach a new level of execution that will be needed to come out on top of a division that is so competitive,” Braley said. “This group is a highly skilled and talented team with a lot of drive and will to win.”

The Cavs, meanwhile, are going back to the scene of the crime, their 1-0 win over OR back on Sept. 29. They’ve been paced by, among others Anna McGurk and Caroline Crawford, among many, on offense and Maddie Barich as the last line of defense in goal during the course of the season.

“We’re excited and thankful as a team to have the opportunity to play against Oyster River,” Cavs coach Greg Cochrane said. “We plan to use our time wisely during the week off. We will be hard at work, practicing our concepts and executing our plays at a high level of consistency.”

If one of the two locals makes the finals, it’s likely they’d face either last year’s runnerup John Stark, No.3, or No. 2 Bow. Bow’s lone loss was to HB, Stark’s lone loss was to Souhegan.

The semis are a week from Thursday – talk about dragging a tournament out – at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter, at 5 and 7 p.m. The finals are 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Bedford High School’s Bulldog Stadium.