Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod was disappointed her team fell just short of a Walter Cup for the second straight season, but above that, and above anything else, MacLeod was "proud" of the Charge.
For the second straight season, the Ottawa Charge watched as their opponent hoisted the Walter Cup. In 2025, the Charge fell just short to the Minnesota Frost. This year, it was the Montreal Victoire who handed them a four game series loss.
While there was obviously disappointment involved for the players and staff, above all else, and above that disappointment, Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod felt proud of her team.
"Obviously when you're playing for a championship the objective and the goal is to win the championship," said MacLeod following Ottawa's 4-0 Game 4 loss. "So obviously there's a disappointment by just falling a little bit short. So that's a very real feeling, a very raw feeling."
"But it's amazing how quickly you can turn that into understanding what has actually transpired this season...ultimately the emotion that rises the most in myself and our staff was just truly pride," MacLeod continued.
"This is a group that just kept chugging. We just kept going. Nobody gave us any credit coming into this season. Nobody gave us credit halfway through the season. And this was a group of women that were just so so driven and motivated to get better and to earn their way into a playoff spot, to earn our way into the Walter Cup final. You know, you wish a better ending for the group just because they're such a special team, but I can tell you the biggest emotion I have right now is pride. I'm very, very proud of them."
The Ottawa Charge were the final team to qualify for the 2026 PWHL playoffs, and they upset second place Boston in the opening round of playoffs to advance to face Montreal.
Apart from the Minnesota Frost, who won back-to-back Walter Cups to open the PWHL's history, the Ottawa Charge are now the only team to appear in two Walter Cup finals.
Like the rest of the league, the Charge will now regroup and face the uncertainty of a four-team expansion roster building process that in all likelihood will pull at least a few core members of the Ottawa Charge to new markets this offseason.
For now however, the focus is on this group, and this team, so that the 2025-26 Ottawa Charge can reflect on the season that was, before turning to what will be.
"Well, I think at the end of the day, it's not really the moment that we're going to worry about what's the future is," said MacLeod. "I think what's most important after today is that they get some time to spend together and just really be proud of what they've cultivated in that room."
"For us, the future is the future, but that really doesn't have a place in this moment. This moment's just genuinely about this team and what these women have accomplished."