Players convened in a conference room at Bishop Ahr a good five hours before the biggest match in the program’s history as coach Jim Tavormina queued up a video intended to inspire.

No, it wasn’t any of the sappy Hollywood productions of underdogs triumphing against all odds. It was reality based, a re-enforcement, a timely reminder of the grit, talent and capabilities that put the Trojans’ on the threshold of a championship few outside the crammed confines gave them a chance to celebrate.

“We had a team meal and watched our Pingry match and a compilation of all our other games,” Tavormina said of the viewing, which included its penalty-kick shootout victory over the two-time defending NJSIAA Non-Public A titlist in the South Jersey semifinal. “They totally relaxed.”

What followed Wednesday night would certainly make for a screenplay that might peak the interest of those in Tinseltown. Motivated by a perceived suspicion of its worthiness, Bishop Ahr instituted exactly what earned its place opposite mighty Immaculate Heart at The College of New Jersey, instilling its defensive will in poised, organized fashion.

A backline of Claire Dundon, Cali Clarke, Sarah Harman and Alexia Vassiliadis, along with keeper Brianna Foster, rarely had its shape compromised while sophomore striker Jillian Vassallo delivered the only goal that unit needed as Bishop Ahr, No. 15 in the MSG Varsity New Jersey Top 15 power rankings, sprang a 1-0 upset on No. 2 Immaculate Heart to claim the Non-Public A state title in its first championship appearance.

“The things that drove us was that, since my freshman year, everyone has doubted us,” Dundon said. “We’ve never been predicted to win states or the (Greater Middlesex Conference) tournament. We were always too small or we got into these things by luck. We’re always the underdog. We took all of that which has been pushed on us and we let our play do the talking.”

If you get the impression Bishop Ahr (17-2-2), the side with 16 clean sheets to its credit, with a pair of respectable 1-0 setbacks to East Brunswick and Old Bridge its only blemishes, played with a chip on its shoulder, you’re right. But, it also performed with the intent to prove beyond question it belonged under such a setting.

The defensive third continuously maintained its shape and while it yielded 10 shots (nine in the second half), a majority were fired from beyond the penalty area and only six found their way on Foster, who despite suffering a cut on her knee from a accidental first-half collision, handled each without incident.

“This whole season, my defense has been absolutely amazing,” said Foster. “They have had my back through everything just like I’ve had theirs if I have to make a save. The big thing was containing them. Their girls up front know what they’re doing. If we dove at them, they were going to get by.”

Dundon and Clarke denied the runs along the perimeter that are so paramount to IHA’s attack while Harman and Vassiliadis supplied insurance out of the centerand accounted for those in the middle to neutralize a Blue Eagles’ attack that entered averaging nearly three goals a match.

Vassallo snapped the scoreless contest with a sudden strike in the 47^th minute. The sophomore tracked a looping ball along the right side just above the penalty area and turned a right-footed shot that nestled inside the back post for her 22^nd goal of the season.

“I was just thinking about getting it on net as quick as possible,” Vassallo said. “We knew we weren’t going to have that many scoring chances (the Trojans managed only four shots). You have to take advantage of an opportunity like that. I thought it was a good shot when I let it go. It was such a great feeling to see it hit the back of the net.”

The loss ended an 11-game unbeaten string for Immaculate Heart (20-2-1), which earned a share of the Bergen County Tournament with a 1-1 draw against No. 1 Northern Highlands. The Blue Eagles threatened on an equalizer in the 66^th minute when senior midfielder Jackie St. John volleyed a service from sophomore Sophia Gulati just wide and three minutes later on a 30-yard blast by senior Cami Didio that breezed over the upper right corner.

“As a senior, this means everything,” said Vassiliadis. “It’s an amazing group to be a part of.”

BGA WINS FIRST SECTIONAL TITLE IN PROGRAM'S HISTORY - After seeing a number of scoring opportunities throughout the game just miss, and the game still scoreless with the time in regulation slowly diminishing, the Bishop Ahr High School girls soccer team finally saw a ball go its way.

Jillian Vassallo finished inside the 18-yard box, tapping in a long-ranging free kick from Dana Desantis in the 75th minute for the game-winning score to lift the top-seeded Trojans to a 1-0 victory over second-seeded Holy Cross in the NJSIAA Non-Public South A final on Thursday, the first sectional title in the program’s history.

Bishop Ahr will face the Non-Public North A champion Immaculate Heart, which defeated Pope John on Thursday night, for the Non-Public A title on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at The College of New Jersey.

“It was such an amazing feeling, such a rush after I scored,” Vassallo said. “We’d been knocking on the door the whole time, the whole game we didn’t let up and finally we knew we were going to get one, we just couldn’t let up and finally one went in and it felt great.”

The Trojans captured the win in front of a raucous student fan base of approximately 100 who made the 140-mile round trip from the Edison school to Eastern High School, as they paid their own way to get two buses to make the trip.

“It was pretty hectic during the week trying to get these fan buses to come and as soon as we got permission to do it, everyone wanted to come and it was just great support from the school,” Vassallo said. “Our fans really love us and we love them back and it was a great feeling to show they really love and support us.”

Bishop Ahr (18-2) controlled the play throughout for the most part, outshooting Holy Cross (19-3-2) 17-3 and saw a number of close chances miss, including two first half shots that hit off the crossbar.

“We had our chances,” Bishop Ahr coach Jim Tavormina said. “We just told them one was going to go, just keep the pressure up, keep shooting, and we finally got one.”

After barely surviving the previous two rounds in penalty kicks, the Trojans were relieved to be able to win this one without any extra time need, as goalie Brianna Foster only needed to make three saves.

“Thank god it wasn’t in PKs again,” Vassallo said. “It was great just to win this one in regulation, we really needed it, and we really worked hard to get here and we deserve it.”

“After we lost in the semifinals of GMC’s, we really wanted to go all the way through states and now we’re here and we really need to bring it next time, we can’t hold anything back,” Vassallo said.

Bishop Ahr 1, Pingry 1 (6-5 in shootout): Reilly Mullin scored the game-winning goal in the seventh round of a sudden-death shootout to lift top-seeded Bishop Ahr 1-1 and 7-6 in the shootout over fifth-seeded Pingry in the NJSIAA Non-Public South A semifinals.

After all five players from each side made their penalty shots, the game moved into sudden death where after both teams connected in the sixth round for goals, Bishop Ahr keeper Brianna Foster, who made 12 saves, stepped up for the Trojans. Foster dove to her left to save the shot, which set up Mullin, a reserve defender that’s been an offensive weapon in the late season for Bishop Ahr. Mullin stepped up and beat the Pingry goalkeeper to the lower left corner for the game winner.

Sarah Harmon scored in the 55th minute for Bishop Ahr and Rachel Corboz clicked 11 minutes later for fifth-seeded Pingry. Bishop Ahr will play second-seeded Holy Cross for the sectional title on Thursday.

Bishop Ahr beats Metuchen, 4-1, in GMC Tournament quarterfinals

Bishop Ahr 4, Wardlaw-Hartridge 0: Jillian Vassallo recorded two goals and an assist, Lindsey Scarmozzino had two assists, and Samantha Driscoll and Stephanie Spada both added goals as fourth-seeded Bishop Ahr rolled past 13th-seeded Wardlaw-Hartridge.

Bishop Ahr 1, Freehold Boro 0: Samantha Driscoll finished an Alexa Poveliatis pass in the 54th minute and it proved plenty as Bishop Ahr improved to 13-1, dealing Freehold Boro just its second setback. Brianna Foster made six saves for the Trojans.

WOODBRIDGE — The Bishop Ahr High School girls soccer team got a pair of goals in the opening three minutes and added four insurance markers in the final 15 to walk away with a 6-0 victory over Colonia Tuesday afternoon.

The win marked the 12th straight shutout for goalkeeper Brianna Foster and the Trojans’ defense, who have allowed just one goal all season long.

Bishop Ahr (12-1) got on top 42 seconds in when Jill Vassallo crossed a perfect ball into the box that Alexa Poveliaitis knocked home and less than three minutes later, Lindsey Scarmozzino tapped home an easy goal right in front of the net to give her teammates all the insurance they needed.

“We had nice energy when we came out today, got up two and kind of relaxed a little bit. We still had control of the game and we had opportunities to add to the lead, but we didn’t finish them,” head coach Jim Tavormina said. “But, we talked at halftime and made a couple of changes and inserted a little bit of energy and started rolling.”

One of those changes was to insert Rielly Mullin to an offensive role and Mullin rewarded her coaches’ faith with a pair of second half goals. Mullin, usually a defensive player in Bishop Ahr’s lineup, converted a cross from Vassallo in the 69th minute and capped the scoring with a tap-in eight minutes later.

“We put Rielly up front and she inserted a good amount of energy up there and she got herself two goals,” Tavormina said. “We just pick each other up and we did a really nice job to finish the deal here on a very nice regular season.”

Vassallo finished with two goals and two assists on the day, the last of which came when she ran through the Colonia defense and faked out goalkeeper Juli Wright for the goal in the 72nd minute.

“I saw the ball going through and I saw the keeper coming at me and I knew I had to go strong and I just made a move around her and it was an easy finish,” Vassallo said.

Since a 1-0 loss to Old Bridge on Sept. 10, Bishop Ahr has not allowed a goal, a span that’s now well over 900 minutes of game time. They’ll have more than a week off before their first GMCT match, but Vassallo doesn’t think that’ll hurt her and her teammates.

“We just need to stay focused and we can’t lack in attention to detail and we need to stay strong in this time off that we have,” she said.

Wright finished with 15 saves for Colonia, who just could not muster an offensive threat to Foster and the rest of the Trojans’ defense.

Bishop Ahr 3, North Brunswick 0: Jill Vassallo scored twice and added an assist and Alexa Povelaitis chipped in another goal to lead Bishop Ahr (10-1). North Brunswick is 2-9-1.

Bishop Ahr 6, Perth Amboy 0: Alexa Povelaitis scored two goals for Bishop Ahr (9-1). Alexandra Laguna made five saves for Perth Amboy (1-9-1).

Bishop Ahr 4, Sayreville
0: Samantha Driscoll posted a goal and an assist, and Jillian Vassalo, Alexa Povelaitis and Vanessa Mantione added goals to send Bishop Ahr. Brianna Foster made three saves to earn her seventh shutout for the Trojans (8-0), while Kelly Raub stopped 10 shots for the Bombers.

Bishop Ahr 6, Colonia 0: Samantha Driscoll scored twice and added an assist as Bishop Ahr (7-1) rolled. Four others scored for the Trojans and Brianna Foster pitched her sixth shutout of the season. Juli Wright made six saves for Colonia (2-4).

Alexa Povelaitis scored four goals and added an assist to lead Bishop Ahr to a 6-0 victory over North Brunswick in North Brunswick.

Lindsey Scarmozzino added a goal and two assists, Samantha Driscoll also scored a goal and Jillian Vassallo posted three assists. Bishop Ahr goalie Brianna Foster notched four saves.

Bishop Ahr 8, Perth Amboy 0: Cassandra Brannigan recorded a hat trick while a host of others netted goals as Bishop Ahr (4-1) won. Perth Amboy is 0-2.

Bishop Ahr 4, South Plainfield 0: Claire Dundon, Jillian Vassallo, and Alexa Povelaitis each recorded one goal and one assist to lead Bishop Ahr (3-1) while Sarah Harmon also added a goal. Trojans goalie Stefanie Giambrone made three saves and South Plainfield (0-3-1) goalie Sydni Suroweic netted 17 saves.

Goals: Jillian, Sam D.