New York Sirens forward Abby Roque became the first player in Professional Women’s Hockey League history to score a “Michigan goal,” using the fabled trick shot against the Ottawa Charge on Saturday afternoon.

“The Michigan” first came to hockey prominence in 1996, when Mike Legg of the University of Michigan pulled off a “lacrosse-style” goal in an NCAA playoff game. Starting in back of the opponent’s net, a skater scoops the puck onto the blade of their stick, lifts it up and then whips a shot around the net into the top corner, over the shoulder of an unsuspecting goaltender.

With Ottawa leading 3-1 in the third period, Roque recovered a loose puck on the offensive zone and skated behind the Charge’s net. Goalie Gwyneth Philips tracked the play and watched Roque crouch down to get the puck on her blade. Philips quickly moved to her left and attempted to close off the top of the net but it was too late: Roque quickly snapped the puck under the crossbar for her sixth goal of the season — and the first “Michigan goal” in the two-year-old league’s history.

FIRST MICHIGAN GOAL IN PWHL HISTORY GOES TO ABBY ROQUE pic.twitter.com/GhtRfoMRnY

— New York Sirens (@PWHL_NewYork) March 22, 2025

“Honestly, there was a lot around the net and I just I knew I had time behind the net to pick it up, I thought I may as well,” said Roque, who is from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. “Obviously, the goalie is reverse-handed so I had to put it in.”

Roque, 27, is in her second season with the PWHL’s New York franchise. A member of the Wahnapitae First Nation, Roque was the first Indigenous player on Team USA’s hockey roster and played on the 2022 women’s Olympic team that captured the silver medal in Beijing.

The “Michigan” remains a rare hockey feat. The first successful attempt in the NHL wasn’t until Oct. 2019, when Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes converted one.

There have been only a handful of women’s players who have successfully attempted the “Michigan” during games. In 2023, 14-year-old phenom Nela Lopusanova of Slovakia made headlines with a “Michigan goal” in the quarterfinals of the U18 IIHF world championships, in what is considered to be the first successful “Michigan” attempt by a women’s player.

In Feb. 2024, Brown University’s Margot Norehad scored a “Michigan” against Quinnipiac in an NCAA Div. I game. On Saturday, Roque joined that exclusive club.

“It’s something that has become a joke and we say every day when I come to the rink: ‘Michigan today.'” Roque said. “I don’t actually mean it, but the opportunity presented itself, so I had to try.”

The Sirens play their home games at Prudential Center in Newark, home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.