SUNYAC Releases 2026 Women's Ice Hockey Annual Awards

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC announces its 2026 women's ice hockey individual awards and the All-Conference and All-Rookie teams as nominated and voted on by the eight conference coaches. The individual honors include Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goaltender of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coaching Staff of the Year. 

The SUNYAC women's ice hockey semifinals will take place February 28 at 3 p.m. No. 3 Cortland will travel to No. 2 Oswego and No. 1 Plattsburgh will host No. 4 William Smith. The final is set for Saturday, March 7 at the highest remaining seed. Full Bracket

Player of the Year - Katie Mahoney, Cortland
Mahoney finished regular season conference play ranked No. 1 in the league with 18 points. She was tied at second with eight goals and was second in assists with 10. She had a season high of two goals on January 30 and three assists on February 25. She also scored two game-winning goals so far in her junior season. Overall Mahoney currently has 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points overall. The Red Dragons earned the No. 3 seed going into post season play and defeated No. 6 in the first round to advance to the SUNYAC semifinals.

Defensive Player of the Year - Taya Balfour, Plattsburgh
Balfour was part of a defense that held its opponents to 34 goals averaging 1.4 goals against per game. The Cardinals earned the top seed going into post season play with a 12-1-1 record. Balfour had 14 blocks in regular season conference play and added 11 points. She had a season high of three blocks February 20. Balfour currently has 29 blocks and 20 points overall going into the SUNYAC semifinals. The team has 18 wins so far this season (18-6-1).

Goaltender of the Year - Magalie Parent, Potsdam
Parent led the league with 399 saves in conference competition and is also ranked No. 1 overall with 659 saves. She recorded all six league wins in net to help the Bears advance to post season play. Parent had a season high of 42 saves on February 14. She held a .937 save percentage in conference play with a 2.12 goals against average. Parent finished her senior season with over 1,300 minutes in goal earning 10 wins overall.

Rookie of the Year - Bailey MacKellar, Plattsburgh
MacKellar was tied for second in the conference with eight goals and she added six assists to also tie for second with 14 points in league competition. She had a +12 on-ice goal differential in SUNYAC play and is +16 overall so far this season. MacKellar had a season high of two goals on February 14 and a season high of two assists on February 20. MacKellar and her team will play in the semifinals of the SUNYAC tournament as the top-seeded team.

Coaching Staff of the Year - Plattsburgh
Head coach Kevin Houle is assisted by Emma Killeen and Anthony Del Tufo. The staff guided the Cardinals to the top seed after going 12-2-1 in regular season conference play. The team earned a bye into the semifinals where they will face No. 4 William Smith on February 28. The staff coached five All-Conference selections and two All-Rookie team members as well as the Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Plattsburgh is currently 18-6-1 overall. They will compete to win the program's second SUNYAC women's ice hockey title in the third year of the conference sponsoring the sport.

2026 SUNYAC Women's Ice Hockey All-Conference Teams (PDF)