Longtime journalist Dan Woog has also been head coach of Staples High School (Conn.) boys soccer team for a decade. He recently wrote about this season’s teamcoming up short in its state championship bid, falling 1-0 to Xavier in the quarterfinals. “The final whistle blew. Xavier remained undefeated. We should have headed to our bus. Except wedidn’t. For 20 minutes — long after the traditional post-game handshakes — players and coaches sat on the field. Through tears, we talked about the season that ended so abruptly. No one wantedto leave. … The next day, in a classroom, we held our final team meeting.”