BURLINGTON, Ont. - Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announced the major award winners, all stars and all-rookie team for the 2025-26 women's hockey season on Wednesday, March 11 with four members of the Gryphons women's hockey team earning conference-wide recognition. Katherine Heard was named OUA West MVP and First Team All-Star, Arielle MacDonald taking home OUA True Sport Award and was named to the OUA West Second Team All-Star alongside her teammates Maeve Sutherland-Case and Sophie Helfenstein. This is the first time since 2021-22 season, the OUA women's hockey All-Stars and major award winners were split up by divisions.
 

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Katherine Heard – OUA West MVP and First Team All-Star Katherine Heard's fantastic 2025-26 season culminates with the fifth-year forward being named the OUA West MVP. Heard, the Arva, Ontario native, was a consistent presence in the Guelph lineup where she set new career-highs in goals, assists, and points during the regular season. Heard was 6th in the OUA with 24 points and tied for third with 16 assists during her 2025-26 campaign. The sociology major at the U of G went on a tear in the second half of the season, scoring 6 times and picking up 12 points during her 8-game point streak as the Gryphons went 7-1 during that stretch. Heard does it all for the Gryphons as the team captain as she is one of the premier two-way players in the conference. This represents the third time in school history a Gryphon has been named MVP and the first time since the award was split up by division. This is also the first time that Heard's has been named an OUA All-Star, being named to the first team.
 

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Arielle MacDonald – OUA West True Sport Award and Second Team All-Star For a second consecutive season, Gryphon defender Arielle MacDonald was named OUA West True Sport Award winner. MacDonald, studying her masters at the University of Guelph in business administration won the True Sport Award last season as a member of the Laurier Golden Hawks. Throughout her five-years, MacDonald has taken 9 career minor penalties. MacDonald led all Gryphon defenders and was third on the team with 16 points and has taken one minor penalty this season. Arielle plays top minutes for the team and plays in all situations for the Gryphons as a key piece to the blueline. This marks the second time in school history that a Gryphon has been named the True Sport Award winner. MacDonald was also named an OUA All-Star for the first time as part of the second team. The New Credit, Ontario native was tied for 6th among defenders in the OUA with 16 points and tied for 3rd with 14 assists, matching her career-high in the regular season. MacDonald in the postseason has two points to her name, including the game tying goal against the Waterloo Warriors in Game 3 to send the game into overtime which her team won in triple OT.
 

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Maeve Sutherland-Case – OUA West Second Team All-Star Maeve Sutherland-Case has been named an OUA West Second Team All-Star for the first time in her Gryphon career. Sutherland-Case, the fourth-year forward has cemented herself as one of the provinces top goal scorers. The Hamilton native led the team in the regular season with 13 goals to go along with her 19 points. This is the second consecutive season Sutherland-Case has led the team in goals scored and has broken double-digits in goals scored in back-to-back seasons posting a career-high 13 this season. The animal biology major has scored twice in a game on four occasions this season and has carried over her fine form into the postseason, scoring twice and has 4 points.
 

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Sophie Helfenstein – OUA West Second Team All-Star Sophie Helfenstein outstanding season in the Guelph net sees her earn OUA All-Star status on the second team. Helfenstein, the third year netminder took over the reigns as the team's starter in the regular season and splendid in net. The molecular biology and genetics major started 20 of her team's game and won 15 of her starts (2nd in OUA) with a 1.20 GAA (3rd in OUA) and .944 save percentage (3rd in OUA). Helfenstein also led the conference with 8 shutouts this season. One of best stretches this season for the Ajax, Ontario native came in the beginning of January where she made 24 saves against Queen's and followed it up making 23 saves as she picked up back-to-back shutouts.
 

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2025-26 OUA West Major Award Winners – Women's Hockey

Player of the Year - Katherine Heard, Guelph Gryphons
Rookie of the Year - Lerissa Stevenson, Windsor Lancers
Coach of the Year - Kelly Paton, Laurier Golden Hawks
Defender of the Year - Teagan Pare, Windsor Lancers
Goaltender of the Year - Sarah Howell, Laurier Golden Hawks
True Sport Award - Arielle MacDonald, Guelph Gryphons
Marion Hillard Award - Abby Hicks, York Lions
EDI Award - Abby Hicks, York Lions
 
2025-26 OUA West All-Stars – Women's Hockey

First Team
Defence - Teagan Pare, Windsor Lancers
Defence - Katina Duscio, Waterloo Warriors
Forward - Katherine Heard, Guelph Gryphons
Forward - Carly Orth, Waterloo Warriors
Forward - Clara Chisholm, Laurier Golden Hawks
Goalie - Sarah Howell, Laurier Golden Hawks
 
Second Team
Defence - Kara Den Hoed, Laurier Golden Hawks
Defence - Arielle MacDonald, Guelph Gryphons
Forward - Maeve Sutherland-Case, Guelph Gryphons
Forward - Bridget Cameron, Windsor Lancers
Forward - Tatum James, Waterloo Warriors
Goalie - Sophie Helfenstein, Guelph Gryphons
 
2025-26 OUA West All-Rookie Team – Women's Hockey
 
Defence - Marra Klassen, Laurier Golden Hawks
Defence - Staysha Hibert, Windsor Lancers
Forward - Lerissa Stevenson, Windsor Lancers
Forward - Lacey Larmand, Western Mustangs
Forward - Brooke Williams, Waterloo Warriors
Goalie - Olivia Tran, York Lions
 

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2025-26 OUA East Major Award Winners – Women's Hockey

Player of the Year - Sophie Hudson, Queen's Gaels
Rookie of the Year - Jada Wood, Queen's Gaels
Coach of the Year - Morgan McHaffie, Queen's Gaels
Defender of the Year - Scarlett Nowakowski, Queen's Gaels
Goaltender of the Year - Emma Tennant, Queen's Gaels
True Sport Award - Kaitlyn McKnight, Toronto Varsity Blues
Marion Hillard Award - Beatrice Bilodeau, Ottawa Gee-Gees
EDI Award - Cailey Davis, TMU Bold
 
2025-26 OUA East All-Stars – Women's Hockey

First Team
Defence - Scarlett Nowakowski, Queen's Gaels
Defence - Maelle Laplante, Ottawa Gee-Gees
Forward - Sophia Hudson, Queen's Gaels
Forward - Abby Whitworth, Toronto Varsity Blues
Forward - Mikayla Cranney, Queen's Gaels
Goalie - Emma Tennant, Queen's Gaels
 
Second Team
Defence - Tessa Kosec, Nipissing Lakers
Defence - Kalie Chan, Toronto Varsity Blues
Forward - Christina Alexiou, Toronto Varsity Blues
Forward - Jill Hennessey, Nipissing Lakers
Forward - Gillian Warren, Ottawa Gee-Gees
Goalie - Clara Genier, Ottawa Gee-Gees
 
2025-26 OUA East All-Rookie Team – Women's Hockey
 
Defence - Maddy Collins, TMU Bold
Defence - Olivia Brassard, Toronto Varsity Blues
Forward - Jada Wood, Queen's Gaels
Forward - Emily Harrison, Ontario Tech Ridgebacks
Forward - Erica Buckley, Carleton Ravens
Goalie - Sydney Pyburn, TMU Bold