HAMILTON TWP. – The Steinert High girls soccer side was able to advance in the Central Jersey Group III state tournament on Monday, and it can largely thank one of the most unlikeliest of heroines for that. In a scrip reminiscent of one of those cheesy Hollywood sports movies that defies belief, Steinert prevailed over Northern Burlington on penalty kicks when freshman Bella Rosa came up huge in the shootout with two saves. Coupled with Steinert’s Reilly Klein, Jennifer Calle and Ella Tamagno converting their PKs and NBC’s last PK sailing over the crossbar, Steinert won the shootout, 3-0, in three rounds and advanced to an away game at second-seeded Brick Memorial on Thursday. What makes this story fall into the you-can’t-make-it-up category was the fact that until Monday, Rosa had never appeared in a varsity game. She was called on for emergency duty when regular keeper Mia Petracca was ruled out out with a concussion. Furthermore, Rosa doesn’t consider soccer her main sport and is instead a very promising freshman basketball player. She was convinced to join the soccer team when the school’s basketball coach and soccer team’s goalie coach Kristin Jacobs convinced her to come out to “stay in shape.” “I’m not really a soccer player,” said Rosa. “I played some in sixth grade, but stopped because it is boring, although it was not boring today.” Rosa set the tone in the shootout right away with two diving saves to her left after the teams had battled to a 1-all draw through regulation and overtime. “I was scared at first, but once the game started I settled in,” said Rosa. “I had never made a save diving to my left (on the JV) before. I tried to wait to the last second (before committing). I wanted to came through so it wouldn’t be the last game for our seniors. This feels amazing.” Prior to the shootout, Steinert (8-9-3) dominated the early going and opened the scored with 10:29 remaining in the first half on a blast into the far upper corner of the net by freshman Keira Reilly. Her goal was set up by a well-weighted assist from Klein. Nothern Burlington (5-12-1) played better in the second half and drew even on a short shot by Olivia Whyte into a wide-open net following a cross by standout Gianna Hanf. Although it only scored once, Steinert did create plenty of chances with Emily Chircihella and Jaclyn Corby working some passing combinations down the left flank. Northern Burlngton (5-12-1) 0 1 0 0 – 1 Steinert (8-9-3) 1 0 0 0 – 1 Goals: NB-Whyte. S-Reilly. Assists: NB-Hanf. S-Klein. Saves: NB-Sarno 7. S-Rosa 5.