Somerset, Walpole punch tickets to South final

Walpole's Taylor Silvestro (bottom) gets position on Wellesley's Erika Van Aken in Walpole's 2-0 victory. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Halfway through the second period, the match between Somerset (19-2) and King Philip (15-3-3) was scoreless. But with 15 minutes remaining in the girls' field hockey Division 1 South Sectional semifinal, Somerset launched a drive to roll past the Warriors, 3-0.

"We work together really well," said Somerset coach Jen Crook.

Senior Bethany Barrar started the run, deflecting a shot from senior Karen Quinn into the net. They combined to score again four minutes later, when Barrar sent a corner to Quinn. Danielle Grenon finished the scoring off an assist from Barrar.

Barrar's goal was her 37th of the season (she has 13 assists), numbers Crook said she hadn't seen in the 13 years she's coached the team.

"She's just a very strong, athletic kid," said Crook. "She's powerful - built like someone in college."

Crook describes her team as a cohesive blend of power and quickness.

"I think the experience from last year has helped them tremendously," said Crook. That experience would be the 6-0 loss to Walpole in last year's quarterfinals. Since Crook has been with the team (from 1996), the Blue Raiders have faced Walpole five or six times. The only Somerset win in those years came in the 2000 D1 Finals, which was the last time the Raiders reached the championship.

Somerset will get another shot at Walpole Saturday. Walpole downed Wellesley, 2-0, yesterday to advance to the finals for the fifth straight year.

Division 2 North: A pair of Amelias powered Manchester-Essex past Lynnfield, 2-1, in the North sectional semifinals. Amelia Burke tipped in the first goal in the first half and Amelia Cohen added another in the second half. The Hornets (16-2-3) advance to the finals.

Girls' soccer
ISL: Emily Wingrove scored her 10th goal of the season to clinch the league title for Nobles in a 1-0 win over Governor's Academy . . . Brooks's Eliza Marshall scored all six goals in a 6-3 win over St. Paul's. She has 30 tallies on the season.

Independent: Caitlin Alves had four goals and one assist, and Riley Kirkpatrick added a goal and an assist as Williston trounced Choate, 6-2.

State Vocational Tournament: Jessica Belmer scored the winner with nine seconds left and Blue Hills topped Blackstone Valley, 2-1, in the Small Division. In the Large Division championship, Commonwealth MVP Jenna Zencher scored the deciding goal in Shawsheen's 4-3 victory over Greater Lowell.

Boys' soccer
Independent: Williston shut out Kingswood-Oxford, 6-0, sparked by a hat trick from Will Zimicki and a four-assist effort from Sam DeMello.

ISL: Eric Anderson's four goals lifted Rivers to a 5-1 win over St. Sebastian's.

Girls' volleyball
Division 3: Sara Wojda and Grace Handy had 11 aces apiece in Ursuline's 3-0 victory over Westport in the semifinals.

Basketball
Charlestown named Edson Cardoso boys' basketball coach. Cardoso was head coach at Fenway High and played at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy.