The Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats' captain became the sixth player on this year's roster to either sign or verbally commit to play post-secondary hockey upon graduation.

The Wildcats announced on Twitter this week that hometown product Maddy McCleary has signed to play for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns starting in the 2020-21 school year.

"It's just an awesome opportunity. Lots of people I know have gone there," said McCleary before Wildcats practice on Thursday. "It's kind of a rebuild right now, but looking to be a part of something that could be potentially a national championship team."

Along with the appeal of a larger role in the rebuild, McCleary said she was drawn to multiple factors on and off the ice.

"Definitely the size of the school - just under ten thousand, so that's really appealing to me coming from a small town," she said. "The coach (Doug Paisley), he was really good. I liked the way he talked, the way he kind of demoed the place, and how he looked after the team."

The pursuit of the Swift Current blueliner began in the preseason of McCleary's fourth-and-final campaign in the SFMAAAHL.

"They talked to me first at our preseason tournament in Swift. Ever since then, we've kind of been making contact - made contact again at the Mandi Schwartz," said McCleary. "Ever since then it's just been slowly progressing until on Tuesday when I signed."

The process of narrowing down the list of interested schools can often bring up tough decisions for athletes in the recruitment process - this was definitely the case for McCleary, as two schools were at the forefront of her own interest.

"Definitely (University of Alberta) was the second team," she said. "I just thought it was a big university - little too big to start off. I just liked how the coach thought of the team and the things he brought to the table."

McCleary said a huge contributing factor to teams ramping up their interest in having her on their blueline lies in her stepping out of her forte and up into the play.

"Definitely brought my offensive side of the game to the table. I've always been good defensively, but definitely stepped out of my shell this year being on the powerplay, quarterbacking that, and really trying to show my offensive abilities."

McCleary is on a career-best scoring pace. She has four goals and 11 points in 16 games with the Wildcats this season. Last year's marks of five goals and 18 points in 28 regular season games stand as her current career highs.

The aforementioned nod as team captain in her senior season also brought another dimension to the relatively quiet prospect who thrives on leading by example.

"It's brought another level to my game. Having that on my resume really helps," said McCleary, who'll be utilizing that from Day 1 in Lethbridge.

"Knowing how to communicate with the girls better, I feel that's an asset coming into a new team, a rebuild - everyone's a little unfamiliar with each other."

It's been a career of dependability so far for McCleary, who's played multiple positions for the Wildcats, while failing to miss a regular-season game so far since arriving in the 2016-17 campaign.

"It's definitely been a whirlwind of an experience. (Head coach Terry Pavely) brought me in actually as a forward, ended up staying as a defenseman, being very defensive. He's just broken me out of that shell and made me an offensive player."

McCleary's career as a Wildcat has seen a combined 118 regular-season and playoff games. To date, the defenseman has scored 14 goals and has 46 total points in that time.

Her 101st regular-season contest is tonight in Battleford, as the Wildcats are looking to get in the win column against the Battlefords Sharks at 8:15 p.m.

At 1-3-0-0 so far in 2020, though still an impressive 11-4-1-0 overall, this two-game weekend against the fifth-place Sharks (7-11-1-1) proves crucial to settling back into their pre-Christmas break rhythm.

"It's huge, it's really important. If we can bury those six points this weekend, it'll really bring our confidence back from after Christmas, and really help us in the standings."

The weekend finale is a 1 p.m. battle on Saturday, though it'll be held at the semi-neutral site of Hillmond Arena. Located an hour-and-a-half northwest of the Battlefords, Hillmond named the host community of the 2020 Hockey Day in Saskatchewan.

It's the third-straight season the Wildcats have played a Hockey Day in Saskatchewan game.

They battled the now-defunct Melville Prairie Fire in Balcarres in 2018, and just last year played host to the Battlefords Sharks down the road in Gull Lake.

"This'll be my third one, so you've just got to enjoy the moment," said McCleary. "It's definitely an experience that not many teams (get). To be a part of that, it's just an unreal experience. People in the towns are always so thankful to have you there. It's just an awesome experience that everyone should take in and be thankful for."

The second-place Wildcats will stay in that spot regardless of the weekend's results. The first-place Regina Rebels and third-place Prince Albert Northern Bears are off from league play.