WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — It’s not often a central defender is the star of a soccer game, but Milton High’s Tyler Larocque was just that on Wednesday when his 12th-ranked Yellow Jackets upset fifth-seeded Hartford, 2-1, in the VPA Division II teams’ first-round playoff game at the Maxfield Complex.

Stocky but agile with a beard and bushy hair, the senior repeatedly repelled the Hurricanes’ attack while booming roughly 20 goal kicks, often past midfield.

With the contest seemingly headed for penalty kicks, Hartford goalkeeper Mason Chase was whistled after a collision with Milton’s Luke Bushey. Larocque jogged up the field and pounded in the subsequent penalty kick with three minutes remaining in a second 15-minute overtime.

“Tyler’s calm under pressure, and we lean on him,” said Yellow Jackets coach Jack Hubbard, whose team visits No. 4 U-32 (11-3-1) in the quarterfinals. “He influences games as a physical player who doesn’t take many fouls. We had our defense way back and just wanted to slow Hartford down.

“We’re a hard-working team, but we knew Hartford would probably be the more technical team today.”

Hartford (8-5-2) held the run of play early, but Milton (6-7-2) forged equilibrium as the contest unfolded. The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first half when forward Andrew Preuss blew up the left wing past a defender, fired a shot off goalkeeper Chase and then knocked his own rebound home.

Bryce Soboleski equalized for the hosts three minutes before halftime. The senior forward sent a what-the-heck shot from 25 yards at Milton goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell, then watched in delight as it bounced over the netminder’s shoulder.

Milton looked as if it was going to take a 2-1 lead into intermission when Jake Dueso broke in alone on Chase. However, the diminutive forward took a touch too many before shooting wide of the hulking backstop and the net.

With short bursts of exception, Hartford lacked the type of fire that usually accompanies a playoff match. The Hurricanes were often second to loose balls and seemed to leave their collective engine idling most of the afternoon.

“There needed to be more urgency,” first-year Hartford coach Connor Brooks said. “I don’t know if it was wear and tear from the season, but we didn’t quite have the energy we usually have today. We battled, but we weren’t getting the right spaces early and often enough.

“We were trying to drive the ball down the middle when we needed to get it to the flanks and corners. We played into their hands by kicking a lot of long balls, which isn’t what we’ve done all season.”

Overtime ended in painful fashion for Hartford when Chase and Bushey ran into each other in the home box.

“Mason came out aggressively, which was great, and tried to make a play on the ball,” Brooks said.

“The ref felt he came through (Bushey) to get to it, and well, we’ll leave it at that.”

Hartford will graduate six seniors. They are Chase and Soboleski, midfielders Gabe Guillette and Owen Parker and defenders Peyton Bessette and Lochlan Park.

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Notes: The teams didn’t play during the 2023 campaign but Hartford beat Milton, 4-2, during last season’s opener. … Hartford’s Park went out with what appeared to be a back injury during the second half, and Milton’s Preuss exited after hurting a knee during the second overtime. … The Hurricanes coaching staff includes five assistants. … U-32 ended Hartford’s previous two seasons with playoff losses. … Wednesday’s referee was Tim Boyle, a former Hanover High player who is now the Richmond Middle School principal.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.