A 1-0 win on the ice, and one special day for Peabody-Lynnfield-North Reading head coach Michelle Roach.
Roach, who formerly played for St. Mary’s, picked up her 100th win in PLNR’s shutout victory against the Clippers at the McVann-O’Keefe Rink on Saturday.
“I would like to thank my team [and] my assistant coaches. Without them, this would absolutely not be possible,” Roach said. “I’m just really thankful for them.”
Once the clock reached its zeros, there was a public address announcement to highlight the accomplishment. It didn’t stop there, however, as Roach was met with balloons and posters from the entire team.
Roach said the team “absolutely caught me off guard.”
“I was just turning around to get my bag, and I turned around and they were all there,” Roach said. “They kept it a very good secret, which you would think with 28 high school girls, someone would’ve slipped.”
As for the action inside the boards – which were taped with posters and cardboard cutouts for Senior Day – PLNR played a strong game.
The hosts dominated play through six minutes, then killed a penalty at 7:06 of the first as goalie Alyse Mutti impressed with two key saves during the kill. Good goaltending was in full effect to conclude a scoreless first period.
Then came the one. Forward Catie Kampersal was going off for a line change, but smart recognition led her to track down the puck, center her shooting angle on a breakaway, and score a beauty to put PLNR ahead 1-0 with 3:56 remaining in the second.
Roach called it “the best line change we’ve ever made.”
“We had the door open and someone was going to change,” Roach said. “She saw the puck coming… Catie went through and it was amazing.”
Assistant captain Ella Chase picked up an assist on the eventual game-winner.
PLNR kept the pressure going in the third, but Newburyport never went away. In the second matchup this season between the two programs – the first a 3-1 win for PLNR – Roach said the Clippers always play “very aggressive.”
“They are going to be all over you and you cannot give them the time and space,” Roach said. “We knew that we needed to play our game… we were making sure that we played smart hockey.”
Smart hockey indeed. PLNR played conservative late to secure the victory as time expired on Newburyport. A highlight of the third was when Mutti made a blocker save on a dart from the left point to keep the Clippers scoreless with five minutes remaining.
“I think that we played really well. We kept pressing and we kept coming at them,” Roach said.
It’s been another stellar season for PLNR, which currently holds a 14-3 record under Roach’s vision from the bench.
“This means so much to me,” Roach said. “We’ve worked so hard on the program the last eight years and it’s great to see where we’ve gone.”
PLNR returns to action on the road against Marblehead on Friday (7:30 p.m.).
