Heartbreaking loss ends season

Well, I must admit that it is very difficult to write about this past weekends game. It was an even more difficult loss to deal with than our loss the week before. The games had major similarities. In both games, we jumped out to a 14-0 lead. We led both games in the 4th quarter and then also ended up losing both games by 3 points. This one was more painful because it ended our season and our goal of winning the Maple League Championship. In this game, we had a 5 point lead with about 3 minutes to play. We also had the ball around their 10 yard line with a first down and they had no timeouts left to stop the clock. It looked as if we couldn't really lose the ballgame. We then had 2 holding penalites called on us on inside runs. We gained some of the yardage back, but decided to attempt about a 30 yard field goal with around 1:30 left to play. Unfortunately, we missed the kick. The Roosters got the ball and drove some 80 yards for the winning score (about a 20 yard td pass) with 1 second left on the clock. We were flagged a few more times on this series, but the bottom line is they made plays and we did not. Their QB did a heck of a job and their receivers made some great catches. We had our chances, but we had poor field position most of the day and an earlier miscue on an extra point and missed field goal certainly did not help our situation. Making the playoffs was great, but we underperformed over the last two weeks and did not close out games like we had the previous 7 weeks of the season. The guys were just stunned after the game and I have not been able to shake this one off very well so far either. It is always hard to know what to say after a game ends like that, but I just tried to keep it in some kind of perspective in our huddle after the game. Teams have to learn and grow from games like this, and I must practice what I preach. I will focus on the things I can do better and try to prepare more for the next one.
In the meantime, I have tried to adjust my flight to come back to the states a few days earlier, but all of the ticket change fees and seat differential charges, travel agency fees, etc.. add up. There were some seats left for me to head back a few days earlier, but the charges are almost like buying a whole new ticket, so I am going to take my scheduled flight back on Sept. 2nd. I have said goodbye to most of the guys and have decided to do a little more traveling before I leave next week. I found a cheap fare on a cargo ship heading out of Helsinki on Tuesday night, so I am going to head over to Eastern Europe for a bit. I should be in Poland sometime tomorrow and then I will decide what to do from there. I have my backpack, a loaf of French bread, some water, and a few days worth of clothes, so we'll see where it leads from there.
Lights out.