It was shocking new for and her University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks teammates when the women鈥檚 program was cut.

The day before it actually happened in late March, MacMillan, a product of the Okanagan Hockey Academy, said a podcast had broadcasted that the cut was happening, but the players thought maybe it wasn鈥檛 true.

鈥淭he Wednesday we got cut, we all got tense and nobody wanted to skate,鈥� said MacMillan, now months later. 鈥淲e were all pretty worried about it. No one was really uncomfortable because the coaches hadn鈥檛 said anything to us.鈥�

After practice ended they went into their locker room and picked up their phones which had erupted with text messages and social media posts that the program was getting cut. People messaged them to apologize about the news.

鈥淲e had not heard yet. Coaches had a meeting to speak with the athletic director,鈥� she said.

The coaches told the players it didn鈥檛 look good as the same happened to baseball and golf, which was cut the year before.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if you can prepare yourself, but there was a lot of emotions going on,鈥� said MacMillan.

MacMillan said last season was awesome for her as she played with a team that was unreal.

鈥淚 probably never played with a group of girls that was that close. Everyone genuinely got along with each other.鈥�

That environment helped her become a better person and player. That lone season in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was an adjustment for the 5-9 forward. High school hockey is different from college, especially playing with women up to five years older. MacMillan lucked out as she put it getting a lot of playing time as a freshman. There were other rookies who struggled and didn鈥檛 receive as much ice time. MacMillan had her games where she didn鈥檛 play a lot either.

鈥淚t was weird going from a first-line player to trying to fill a different role,鈥� she said. I definitely think I developed as player.鈥�

Her speed is better as she had to adapt to a quicker game. Her hockey sense also got better because she learned she had to do things a second quicker.

Since then, things have moved forward in a positive direction for her.

In a few weeks MacMillan will leave Penticton for the nations capital, where she will play in U Sports for the Ottawa Gee-Gees for four years. She considered other NCAA programs, but returning to Canada she gets an extra year of hockey. MacMillan doesn鈥檛 believe she will continue playing hockey once her career with the GeeGees is over. MacMillan is excited for the next chapter in her hockey career and living in Ottawa.

鈥淢y past coaches said that they could see me fitting in that program,鈥� said MacMillan, who studied pre-science at UND. 鈥淪ome of the girls in Ottawa have reached out to me and welcomed me. Them reaching out to me, when I haven鈥檛 been there yet or met them, it鈥檚 really nice to feel welcomed already.鈥�