Mikaelyan Named December WCHA Rookie of the Month

Photo by: Bill Prout

12/31/2025 2:01:00 PM | Women's Hockey

Freshman forward tied for league lead in assists, points during December; becomes just fourth player in program history to earn Rookie of the Month honors

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Hockey freshman forward Maria Mikaelyan (Moscow, Russia) was named Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Month, as announced by the league office on Wednesday. Mikaelyan tallied four assists/points including her first career three-point game in the Huskies lone series of the month at then-No. 12 Minnesota State December 5-6. It is her first WCHA monthly award of the season and she became just the fourth player in program history to win WCHA Rookie of the Month honors.

This season, Mikaelyan became the first Husky this season to earn multiple weekly honors from the conference after being named WCHA Rookie of the Week on Oct. 13 and Dec. 8. She also became the first Husky to win multiple Rookie of the Week honors since current Toronto Sceptres forward Emma Gentry '25 did so in the 2020-21 season and the first Husky to win multiple WCHA weekly awards since sophomore forward Emilia Kyrkkö (Nokia, Finland) earned three last season (2x Goaltender, 1x Rookie).

The Huskies have won all four conference weekly honors (forward, defender, goaltender and rookie) at least once. On Dec. 1, Kyrkkö was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week, while junior forward Alice Sauriol (Sherbrooke, Quebec) was named Forward of the Week on Oct. 20 and sophomore defender Siiri Yrjölä (Vantaa, Finland), was named Defender of the Week on Sept. 22.

The Moscow, Russia native provided assists on the final three SCSU goals in the Huskies 4-0 shutout win at No. 12 Minnesota State on Dec. 5. She was the lone Husky with three or more points and skated to a +3 mark. For her efforts, she was named the game's No. 2 star and one of the WCHA Brew Pub 3 Stars of the night. It was the first career 3+ point and/or assist game of her career and her +3 mark was a career best single game mark. She added one assist in Saturday's series finale.

Mikaelyan produced one of four 3+ point performances among WCHA skaters and the only 3+ assist game during December. For the month, she tied for the lead in assists (4) and points (4) among WCHA players and led the forwards outright in assists. She also ranked tied for fourth in +/- (+3).

This season she is second tied for third on the team in points (13) and recorded the first 3+ assist game for SCSU and eighth 3+ point performance.

SCSU split its games in Mankato at the Mayo Clinic HSEC. The Huskies shut out the Mavericks, 4-0 on Friday before falling 3-2 in overtime in the series finale on Saturday.

The Huskies return to action with a home exhibition against St. Thomas on Saturday and will continue regular season play with a WCHA series against Ohio State at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on January 9-10. Links to each coverage option can be found on the SCSU Women's Hockey schedule page or game day central.

WCHA Release

WCHA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH AWARD WINNERS
Klára Hymlárová (December 2019)
Olivia Cvar (January 2020)
Emilia Kyrkkö (October 2024)
Maria Mikaelyan (December 2025)

2025-26 WCHA MONTHLY/WEEKLY HONORS
Rookie of the Month