ACHA Women’s D2 Announces 2025 Community Playmaker and Off-Ice MVP Award Winners
March 1, 2025 – The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Women’s Division 2 today announced the recipients of two annual awards: Community Playmaker and Off-Ice MVP.
The Community Playmaker is a player who has made significant contributions to their community, within their academic institution or beyond, on a volunteer basis or in a non-hockey leadership role. The Off-Ice MVP is considered a team’s “unsung hero” for the many ways they support their program and teammates off the ice.
Players can be nominated by their own team, or opposing teams, and nominees are ultimately voted on by a committee of Women’s D2 coaches. Congratulations to the following players for this well-earned recognition.
2025 Community Playmaker of the Year – Maura Hewitt, US Naval Academy
Nomination submitted by US Naval Academy head coach, Ashley Harper:
Maura Hewitt is not a player you’d recognize right away on the ice, but she has made a big impact on life for hundreds of Midshipmen in her numerous leadership roles. With execution-facing leadership roles in her company (think: dorm), the Brigade (think: all of campus), and on our team, Maura volunteers her time endlessly to ensure all Midshipmen feel accepted, respected, and safe on the Yard while they meet their physical, moral, and academic obligations.
As a junior, Maura is the president of the Protestant Midshipmen club, which has over 100 members. Traditionally, this level of leadership is reserved for seniors, but Maura was voted in early, showing her dedication to the club and its mission to provide a safe religious space for Protestants on campus. Maura has also served as the Curriculum Sergeant, which brings professional speakers to the Academy, and it’s her role to provide those speakers with key talking points that will be shared with the 4,000 members of the Brigade. Most recently, Maura has been assigned as a Brigade Staff member for Sea Trials, the culminating experience that takes the freshmen on the Yard (aka “Plebes”) and makes them full members of the US Naval Academy community. Sea Trials requires months of preparation and planning, and will require Maura and her team to execute a 14-hour plan for ~1,000 freshmen. This is one of the highest billets available to juniors at the Naval Academy.
Maura also holds high-level billets within her company, ensuring execution of critical tasks to ensure the physical and mental well-being of her peers. As her company’s Dignity and Respect officer, Maura is a recognized morale authority for the 150 Midshipmen in her company. They seek out her advice and guidance in the many interpersonal matters that happen in a living situation, often requiring Maura to lead with delicate, tactful authority rarely seen among her peers. As a Platoon Sergeant, Maura ensures 30 Midshipmen meet the requirements of day-to-day military, academic, and physical regulations. On top of her two other billets, Maura is also her company’s supply sergeant, ensuring that both the current 150 Midshipmen and 300+ company alumni stay up-to-date about the company’s achievements. This role serves as a fundraising arm for the company, so they can participate in morale-boosting activities not funded by the Academy.
Last, but not least, Maura is also the Operations Officer for Navy Women’s Hockey, which is one of the most difficult and time-consuming billets available to Midshipmen. At the US Naval Academy, any Operations role is essential. We are unable to leave the Yard without organized Movement Orders, pre-set itineraries, specific transportation, required per diem allotments, and full accountability from both the team’s Officer Representatives (the guys you see in uniform at our games) and the US Naval Academy itself. While this billet only covers 30 Midshipmen and 4 staff members, the large scope and breadth of the position requires significant attention to detail and pre-planning. Maura quietly does the tough jobs, brings our operations together, and leads a team to ensure Navy Women’s Hockey can focus on on-ice success.
Though Maura isn’t the fastest skater or loudest voice, her quiet strength and moral compass provides leadership and acceptance for hundreds of Midshipmen on the Yard, undoubtedly creating a better community.
2025 Off Ice MVP – Annie Ruperto, Harvard University
Nomination submitted by Harvard University team members and head coach, Matthew Schneider:
Annie Ruperto is a senior on the Harvard Women’s Club Ice Hockey Team. Harvard is a relatively new team, in only its second season in the ACHA. Last year, during Harvard’s first season in the ACHA, Annie served as President and a Co-Captain of the team. A big part of her job when the team made the jump to playing in the ACHA was recruiting and hiring a head coach for the team. During the summer before the season started, Annie posted the job online and sifted through the applications, interviewing multiple candidates before finding our current coach, who has been an amazing addition to our team.
In addition to serving as a leader of our team for both years of our existence, Annie has taken charge of our Thursday night “Learn to Play” ice time. Every Thursday night, she is available to help those who are new learn to play the sport we all love. She has also facilitated donations of used equipment so that we have some available for those who are brand new to hockey. Compared to other Boston area schools, we have a relatively small pool of experienced players who are willing to devote their spare time to playing hockey, so her initiative to teach the sport to those who have not played it before has led to new additions to our team which is very necessary! We are proud to call Annie a Captain!
