The Premise
The novel Shoot-Out by Mike Lupica is about Jake who moved from the town Greenville to Belmont. He like the town and the school he went to but there was something there that Greenville had and Belmont didn't. A soccer team that are state champions. The Belmont soccer team is about the worst in their league. There is another guy on the team, Kevin Crosby, that nobody really knows about. Only that his mom died recently and Kevin acted like he didn't want to be on the soccer team. Jake keeps trying to be his friend and get him to be more enthusiastic in soccer. Jake finds out that Kevin has one of the best leg on the team, maybe even better than Jake.
Passage
"Coach Lord said, "Okay, Jake. Go win us the game." "No", Jake said. "Very funny", Coach Lord said. "I'm always for lightening the mood. Now get out there." Jake smiled at him, as if he and Coach were the only ones in on the joke. Except it was no joke. "Were winning the game, Coach. You got that part right", Jake said. "But I'm not taking the last kick." He turned to Kevin Crosby. "You are", Jake said (Lupica 160). That passage was when Jake's team was playing his old team, Greenville, and they were having a shoot-out because they ended the game in a tie. Jake gave the last kick that would win them the game to Kevin because he knew he was good enough to win it for them. But, also it was because Jake wanted Kevin to finally act and feel part of their team and win it for them. In the end, Belmont beats Greenville.
