MacDonald lettered in soccer, lacrosse and ice hockey while at Irondale high school. She was captain of the lacrosse team as a senior and captain of the ice hockey team as a junior and senior. As a senior, she was named all-state hockey player by three different outlets. In addition, she was an all-metro first team and All-North Suburban Conference. She was the Irondale Most Valuable Player in 2007 and ’08. She helped Irondale to two Section 5 championships and two North Suburban championships. In her senior year, she was a conference and state scoring leader as a senior. She also received the Irondale Distinguished Academic Achievement Awards in soccer, hockey and lacrosse.