In fact, Moran led Apple Valley in scoring for each and every season that she was on varsity. Even as just a young seventh-grader, competing against athletes who were up to five years older than her, she still played the game at over a point-per game scoring pace.

Some girls are intimidated a bit by moving up varsity at such a young age but Moran says that making the jump up into high school play actually helped make her a better all-around hockey player.

“I think playing younger [being on varsity in middle school] kind of made me a better player altogether and it gave me more confidence with the puck - going against older and stronger girls,” she said in an interview with APX reporter Sydney Wolf.

It may have helped too that both of Moran’s older sisters, Marie and Mandy, were able all able to play together during her first year on varsity. Together, the three siblings were first, second and third overall in scoring on the team. Mandy, the oldest sister, ended up playing Division III hockey at St. Olaf, while Marie is headed into her third year at St. Cloud State.

“We definitely have different personalities, I’m the young one and kind of crazy and my oldest sister is very like on top of things, then Marie is kind of like a mix of us both,” said Moran. “On the ice, I think me and Marie have a similar style of play, which I think helped when we played together because we kind of knew where each other was going to be.”

Looking back on her time with Apple Valley, Makayla says that some of her favorites memories of high school hockey just include all of the friendships that she made over the years. It is truly remarkable what Moran was able to do out on the ice though - to put things in perspective with how talented she was for the Eagles you can see that her 62 points in just 25 games as a senior was a massive 34 points more than the next closest point total in overall scoring on the team. She also led the squad in game-winning goals in 2024-25 (7), power-play points (10), plus-minus, and plenty of other statistical categories too.

“Makayla is a six-year letter winner and two-year captain and is a tremendous leader on and off of the ice,” said Apple Valley head coach Chris Sikich in a previous press release from Let’s Play Hockey about the Ms. Hockey finalists in 2025. “She is a 200-foot player who plays with a high compete level, has great vision as a playmaker, and is a threat to score anytime she touches the puck. This year, Makayla has has broken the school record for career points, career goals and become a member of the 300-point club.” 

Clearly, with statistics like the ones that Makayla put up in high school, there were bound to be plenty of teams interested in recruiting the talented forward from Lakeville. When her recruiting window opened to NCAA Division I women’s hockey teams, she didn’t originally know much about where she would want to go to college in the future. She toured one school, but it just felt too big for her, and then she ended up touring Minnesota State and things just seemed to be a good fit.

“I didn’t think it was my top choice at first and then I visited and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it,” she said about her decision. She also loved the fact that she knew some of the other Maverick commits so getting to know some of the other girls and realizing that they matched her vibe and personality was quite a convincing point too, along with finding the coaching staff knowledgeable and easy to talk to.

“I’m super excited and honored to announce my commitment to play Division I hockey and further my education at Minnesota State University,” she posted to her social media pages on Sept. 30, 2023. “I’d like to thank everyone that has supported me along the way and a special thanks to my family coaches and my teammates. Can’t wait to be a Mav.”

And now, fast forward almost two years, Moran just started the fall semester at Minnesota State and is excited about the hockey season starting very soon.

“I’m just excited to see where it goes [the season]. We’re a young team, we have a lot of freshman, so I’m not sure how that’ll play out but I’m just excited to see how it’ll go,” she said. There are nine freshman and one transfer joining the team this fall but those athletes are all quite close already with each other since all, except one, played Minnesota high school hockey.

One date that the Moran family likely has circled on the calendar in the future is when the Mavericks will play St. Cloud State. Marie and Makayla will get to face-off for the first time in a WCHA conference series at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center in Mankato on Dec. 5 and 6. Makayla joked that she’s not sure yet what her family will do with having one sibling on each side of the ice and if they’ll cheer for both teams or wear the jerseys of both teams or something similar.

“She’s just like ‘I’ll see you on the ice’ now,” Makayla said about the vibes between her and Marie now at the start of the semester. With both sisters playing on the same team for so long at Apple Valley, it’ll be fun to watch the two play on opposite sides of the ice now, especially considering that the Mavericks and Huskies have finished in similar positions in the WCHA in recent years. St. Cloud finished fifth in the conference in 2024-25 while Minnesota State finished sixth out of eight teams.

Although the WCHA is widely known as the best conference in college hockey, Moran is excited for the challenge to play against some of the toughest competition that there is in the NCAA. It’ll be similar to when she was playing against much older, stronger girls as a seventh-grader on varsity, now she’ll be a freshman competing against some girls who will likely be stars in the PWHL in a year or two. She says that playing against good competition will only make her a better player in the end.

For any Maverick fans, Moran will be a freshman to watch on the team in 2025-26

“I definitely have more of a playmaking style and I think I have a good eye and Hockey IQ,” she said about some of the top assets to her game. “I feel like I can read the game really well and where people are going.” She joked that she has been a top goalscorer in high school but isn’t sure how that’ll translate to the collegiate level yet but that she has hopes to obviously score some goals for the Mavericks too.

Moran is an athletic skater too. She played soccer for a handful of years at Apple Valley and also played some lacrosse and golf as well over the years. Because of her success in athletics, she is currently considering maybe majoring in something related to the sports industry but is currently undecided on a major as a freshman this fall.

The college hockey season is coming up quickly and Maverick fans can get prepared to watch Moran and all of her other teammates out on the ice in just a few short weeks. Minnesota State opens the 2025-26 season on the road in Troy, New York, for a pair of non-conference games against RPI on Sept. 19 and 20 before coming home for their home opener against Lindenwood on Oct. 3 and 4 and WCHA play starting the weekend after that.