Former Female Hockey Players Making an Impact

Fifteen former King’s-Edgehill female hockey players are currently playing university hockey in Canada or the United States this season. With three goalies, four defencemen, and eight forwards suiting up for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hockey teams, our hockey alumna could form an impressive team all on their own.

From graduate program athletes Mae Batherson ‘18, Maddy Walsh ‘19, and Maggie Baxter ‘19 to freshmen Hayden Lilly ‘23 and Jada MacKinnon ‘23, former KES players are contributing to programs all over North America.

Alumna currently competing in the NCAA include Ivy League competitor’s goalie Deanna Fraser ‘20 at Cornell University and forward Tiffany Hill ‘16 at Dartmouth College. Defenceman Mae Batherson competes for Division 1 at St. Lawrence University of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), defenceman Brooke Lannon ‘21 plays with McKendree University of Illinois in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) and Cela MacDougall ‘22 is with Nichols College of Massachusetts playing in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC).

Freshman Jada MacKinnon ‘23 is playing regularly at Manhattanville College where she recently recorded her first NCAA point, Jaelyn Keiver ‘22 plays in the highly competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with Williams College, and forward Megan Woodworth ‘18 is a sophomore with the Division 1 UConn Huskies and goalie Airika Penney ‘21 is a sophomore at Hamline University.

North of the border, Dalhousie University boasts three former KES players, goalie Maggie Baxter and forwards Abby Wamboldt ‘21 and Ava Benedict ‘20. Defenceman Maddy Walsh is in St. Catharine’s, Ontario where she stars with the Brock Badgers. The two most recent KES Hockey MVPs have taken their talents to the highly competitive Atlantic University Sport (AUS) – Hayden Lilly ‘23 is a freshman with the UPEI Panthers and Abby McCarthy ‘22 is in her second year with the St. Mary’s Huskies.

Highlights include dynamite starts to the season for graduate defencemen Mae Batherson and Maddy Walsh. Batherson, who is the top-scoring defence for St. Lawrence this season, has already earned ECAC Defenceman of the Week honours on two occasions this season. She recently achieved one of her lifetime goals when she suited up with Team Canada’s National Women’s Development Team in their rivalry series with the United States. Walsh has enjoyed a great start to her Brock career after four seasons with the University of Toronto Blues. She is currently her team’s top-scoring defenceman and second in the entire Ontario University Athletics (OUA) in game-winning goals.

Tiffany Hill led the Dartmouth Big Green in goals and points as a sophomore. Deanna Fraser finished her junior season at Cornell with the eighth-highest winning percentage in the NCAA and has a spectacular 1.25 goals against average this season.

Brooke Lannon left her skates at home when she traveled to Europe this summer and captained Team Canada to Gold at the World Ball Hockey Championships.

Maggie Baxter and Abby McCarthy both deserve significant praise for earning CIS Academic All-Canadian honours last year. This recognition is reserved for the country’s top student-athletes.

With two of our current Highlanders committed to university hockey programs for next year, the pathway from KES to university hockey remains strong.