Losing its final two games of the season prevented the Milford High School field hockey team from heading to the DIAA State Tournament for the third season in a row.

Milford head coach Amanda Jacona said the Bucs missed the tournament by less than 1 percentage point.

“It’s disappointing,” said Jacona, who had previously made the tournament every year of her coaching career. “It’s disappointing for the girls. But, you regroup and get ready for next year.”

The Bucs ended the season with a 3-2 loss to Sussex Tech on Oct. 28, and a 3-1 loss to Red Lion on Oct. 30.

Those losses put Milford at 9-7 on the season. The two worst teams to make the state tournament had five losses and four losses and one tie.

Of Milford’s seven losses, all were to teams that made the state tournament – Delmar, St. Mark’s, Caravel, Cape Henlopen, Dover, Sussex Tech and Red Lion.

“We didn’t lose to any bad teams,” Jacona said. “So I guess that’s a bit of a consolation.”

Five of Milford’s seven losses were by one goal, and one was by two goals.

“Honestly, the girls could’ve won any of those games,” Jacona said. “All were good games, and very close. It’s just a matter of they finished and we didn’t.”

Jacona said she plans on clearing the players’ minds of the season and will try to get them over the hump to beat those top teams by instilling in them the belief that they are just as good, if not better.

“You just have to start with a clean slate,” Jacona said. “I don’t know if it was confidence or aggressiveness, but they were very capable of winning (most of the losses).

“Skill-wise they were better than some of (the teams they lost to).”

Milford actually scored first against Red Lion, as junior Sara Kolobielski knocked in a pass from junior Nikki Parsley with 10:34 remaining in the first half.

But Red Lion returned in the second half to score three unanswered goals. Nikki Hagenbarth scored off a pass from Melissa Lenoir, and Lenoir followed by scoring the next two goals unassisted.

For the game, the Bucs had two shots on goal, and seven penalty corners. The goalkeeping duo of juniors Kara Polk and Morgan McKenzie combined for six saves.

Red Lion finished with seven shots on goal and nine penalty corners, while its goalkeeper had just one save.

Against Sussex Tech, Parsley and freshman Savannah Becker scored Milford’s two goals. Parsley also assisted on Becker’s goal.

For Tech, Lauren Joseph, Becca McMillan and Sarah Adams all scored goals, while Abby Atkins and Joseph recorded assists.