Quick strikes power Millis to D4 South title

Millis punched its ticket to the Division 4 girls soccer state semifinals last night, as Taylor Davis scored twice to lead the second-seeded Mohawks past No.13 Coyle & Cassidy, 4-0, at Hanson’s Dennis O’Brien Field.

“It took our offense a little while to get warmed up,” Millis coach Steve Bailen said. “Then with our middies and defense bringing the ball up, we started connecting like we had been doing the whole season.”

Millis (15-2-2) took the lead in the 36th minute when Taylor Davis crashed the box to put home low cross by Meghan Hourigan. The Mohawks doubled the advantage moments later through Kaylee Francis.

Davis made it 3-0 two minutes into the second half, and Kylee Vaillancourt put an exclamation point on the night with eight minutes left. Coyle had its Cinderella run end at 11-10-1.

Millis will face Amesbury in the state semifinal on Wednesday (5 p.m.) at Lynn’s Manning Field.

Amesbury 6, St. Joseph’s Prep 0 — The No. 2 Indians (16-5-1) scored twice in the first two minutes and never looked back en route to a blowout victory over the No. 13 Phoenix (11-8-3) in the Div. 4 North final at Manning Field in Lynn.

Madelyn Creps led the Amesbury attack with two goals and an assist, while Ashley Pettet, Brooke Taylor and Chelsea Lynch all had a goal and an assist. Maia Esty closed the game with an unassisted goal.

“It’s part of our game plan to push them fast with speed and see if we can get them early,” said Amesbury coach Adam Thibodeau. “That second goal really allowed us to settle down.”

Lynch opened the scoring in the second minute by poking home a pass from Taylor. A mere 30 seconds later, Creps made it a 2-0 game. Pettet made it 3-0 in the 13th minute.

Newburyport 1, Swampscott 0 — Samantha Kelleher scored in the 26th minute, and the fifth-seeded Clippers (16-3-3) defended their sectional title by edging the No.11 Big Blue (128-2) at Manning Field.

Swampscott keeper Nikki Rosa, who stopped Kelleher earlier, had no answer when the Clipper took a pass by River Sava and snuck one past Rosa short-side.

“The current seniors were ball girls for the 2013 state championship team, so they traveled with them and experienced the fire engine ride and police escort. It has been their fouryear goal to repeat that on their own,” said Clippers co-coach Robb Gonnam.

The Clippers will play South champion Archbishop Williams in a state semifinal tomorrow (5 p.m.) at Manning Field.