When Michelle Roach took over girls hockey coaching duties at Peabody High eight years ago, she knew she had her work cut out for her.
“I took over a program that, in the previous eight years, only had 19 wins,” she said. “We were able to flip that.”
As of the end of this season, the Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading collaborative, Roach had a 104-51 record, including her 100th win this season. This past season, the Tanners were 16-4 and ended up seeded eighth in the Division tournament. After defeating Shawsheen and Methuen/Tewksbury in the first two rounds, the ride ended with a 2-0 loss to St. Mary’s in the Round of 8.
That it was the Spartans who beat them stung a little more for Roach, because she freely admits she is where she is because of St. Mary’s and coach Frank Pagliuca.
“He’s been a great friend and a great mentor,” said Roach of the coach who has led the Spartans to four state titles, as well as a berth in the Division 1 final this year. “That’s where I got my start, and I learned so much from him.”
She took a little bit of the St. Mary’s program with her when she came to Peabody. Her two assistants are her brother Steve, who played hockey for the Spartans; and Amanda Donohoe, a former Lady Spartan.
So how did this turnaround happen?
“We have been very lucky with athletes who have come through the program,” she said. “They are willing to work with us and buy into their systems, and we’ve had immense success doing that.”
Roach also believes that her hockey players must be students first and athletes second.
“That has to be where the priority is,” she said. “The smarter the athletes, the more they’ll be able to think on the ice and adjust to situations.”
Roach is also mindful that as a coach, part of her job is to mold teenage girls into successful adults.
“How do we get them to realize their full potential?” she asks. “We’ve had some phenomenal student-athletes come into our program. How do we get them to know this amazing potential? That’s what we strive for. We know if we’re able to do that, the sky’s the limit.”
And the rewards are many.
“I stay in touch with so many of them,” she said. “How can we build this special relationship so that people come back to visit? Every year, usually on Christmas Eve, we have alumni come and visit. We have a scrimmage and so many of them come. It’s my favorite day of the year. We hear all about them, and what they’re doing. We’re not just here for four years.”
If that sounds a little bit like the word “family,” that would be a correct assumption. Roach grew up in a hockey family. Her father, Bob, was a coach at St. Mary’s, and her brothers all played.
“I told him I wanted to play too,” she said. “So, he got me started in Lynn Youth Hockey. I learned to skate, I think, in the fifth grade.”
She ended up playing for the St. Mary’s middle school co-ed team, and then for the boys junior varsity team.
“I was the first and only girl to play for a St. Mary’s boys team,” she said.
During her junior year, the school created its girls team, and Roach ended up being the captain.
That was her first hockey family. After playing at St. Michael’s in Vermont for four years she was back, this time as an assistant under Pagliuca for five years.
“I was fortunate to coach with him for five years,” she said. “That was an amazing honor for me.”
Another honor, she said, was becoming the first girls hockey player to make the Varsity Club, which is essentially the athletic wing of the school’s Hall of Fame.
With her third “family,” the Peabody/Lynnfield/North Reading combine, she was the MIAA’s girls hockey coach of the year in 2022.
One of the many things she learned as an assistant was the necessity of looking ahead on the ice. That means that if you make a mistake, you recover from it and move on.
“We’re always going to make mistakes,” she said. “But if you do, I’m interested in the recovery. It’s that second effort that I really care about. What did you do to fix the mistake? I cannot be out there with [the players.] I can tell them what to look for. We can give them the tools. But they’re out there. We try to get them to think about their decisions.”
Finally, she said, camaraderie is a big factor in the team’s success.
“What’s great about our kids is that they’re all hanging out with each other,” she said. “They all get along. Laughing, joking, socializing. They play with each other. They play against each other.”
Roach is also the girls lacrosse coach for Peabody, which is a single program. They will scrimmage North Reading this week, and Roach is looking forward to it.
“A few of my kids play lacrosse for North Reading,” she said.
The three schools involved have also bought into Roach’s methods.
“I can’t say enough about them,” she said. “They’ve been with us in everything we’ve wanted to do.”
