Milton, Vt. — Hartford High’s boys soccer team ran into a buzzsaw on Wednesday night against top-seeded Milton High at Phil Hughes Memorial Field, running into a Yellowjackets squad with plenty of experience, a little bit of attitude and the skill set to back it up.

By the time No. 5 Hartford could release itself from Milton’s grasp, it was too late as the Hurricanes’ postseason run ended with a 3-0 loss in the VPA Division II semifinals. It was only the fifth time in nearly 40 years that Hartford had made it to the state semifinals, the second time in four years.

“They have a ton to be proud of,” Hartford head coach Kevin Guilbault said. “They work hard. They have a difficult schedule. It’s never easy for them. They do a really nice job of dealing with adversity and handling it the right way.”

No. 1 Milton (14-2-1) will play undefeated second seed Lake Region (17-0-0) in the D-II championship game on Saturday at South Burlington High.

The Yellowjackets put on a display of possession play in Wednesday’s victory, illustrating an uncanny ability to keep the ball and make people miss in attempting to regain it. Milton had the Hurricanes pinned deep in their own defensive third for more than 30 minutes of the first half, forcing Hartford to rely on the long ball that put the Hurricanes’ forwards in plenty of one-on-four situations near midfield.

The result was an onslaught on Hartford senior goalkeeper Jordy Allard and his defense, which withstood attack after attack until Milton forward Jack Battistoni finally broke through with 17 minutes, 13 seconds remaining before halftime. Battistoni and several Yellowjacket attackers organized a scramble in front of Hartford’s net off a cross from the left-hand side into a sea of bodies and feet. The Milton senior forward had the final touch.

“They’re a senior-laden team. They’ve been here and done this,” Guilbault said. “For the first 30 minutes, it looked so.”

Milton senior Ryan Brown took over in the second half, making a move past the Hartford defense before being dragged down in the box. Brown converted the penalty kick try into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0. He later scored on a breakaway, shooting just inside the far left post, to make it a three-goal lead.

By the time the Yellowjackets scored their third goal, however, Hartford had begun to turn the tables. The Hurricanes put four shots on Milton goalkeeper Alex Dooley in the final 10 minutes, finding holes and spaces in Milton’s defense.

Hartford was awarded a penalty kick with three minutes remaining with a chance to get on the board. Junior midfielder Pat Brady missed his target as Dooley reached out his right foot to force the ball over the net. The Milton defense cleared the ball off its own goal line off a scramble in front from the corner kick that followed.

“I thought the last 10 minutes or so we started to settle in,” Guilbault said. “We started to settle down and play like we’re capable of. … We continued to push. I loved what they showed.”

For Guilbault, in his third season at the helm, this year’s Hartford team was special for its leadership and its work ethic. The Hurricanes knocked off Woodstock, last year’s D-II runner-up, in the quarterfinals, a step that Guilbault praised as a sign of progress for a program still looking for consistency against the top teams in its division.

“Hopefully, now when we get into playoffs in the future, we will have been there, done this,” Guilbault said.

Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.