She played with the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for four years, serving as captain for the 03-04 and 04-05 seasons. She played for United States women's Olympic team coach Mark Johnson at Wisconsin, where he likened her leadership to that of a second coach. While at Wisconsin, MacLeod was bestowed with the University of WisconsinBig Ten Medal of Honor. In her senior year at Wisconsin, Macleod served as one of two undergraduate assistant coaches. The other undergrad coach was Olympian Molly Engstrom. Macleod and Engstrom assisted coach Mark Johnson with analysis of game footage.
Her career as a defenseman for the national team began in 2003 with a silver win in the Four Nations Cup. In 2004, she played to a gold medal in the Four Nations Cup. In 2005, MacLeod made her world championship debut in 2005. She had been cut from the world championship team for two consecutive years before that. MacLeod would win silver at the 2005 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship. In 2006, she played in the Winter Olympics in Turin, where she was named as a tournament all-star, and in the 2006 Four Nations Cup, where Canada won gold. In 2007, she played in the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship, where Canada won its ninth world's gold medal. Prior to joining the national women's team, MacLeod was on the National Under-22 team from 1999-2003.
Coaching career
In the fall of 2010, she became an assistant coach with Mount Royal University. During the 2011–12 Canada women's national ice hockey team season, MacLeod was an assistant coach for the National Under 18 team that participated in a three-game series vs. the USA in August 2011. Since February, 2012 she has been serving as an assistant coach for the Japanese national team. In February, 2013 the Japanese national women's hockey team qualified for the first time for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Japanese media praise her coaching skills, her likable personality as well as her tactical understanding of the game which has been much needed for this team. They say she has given the players a hockey mentality and a style of play which puts pressure on opposing teams.
Retirement
On September 14, 2010, Hockey Canada announced that MacLeod, along with three other players retired from international hockey. After her retirement, she took a public relations job with the Royal Bank of Canada.
