After going undefeated last year, the women’s club ice hockey team has been working to rebuild this season.

On Nov. 24, the club won their first game against Slippery Rock University at the East Coast Showdown in Aston, Pennsylvania. Their record is now 1-4-1.

“We have been working a lot to get here over the past few months, and it paid off,” said club president and sophomore Clara Tomann. “I’m so proud of how far we’ve come, and we are really excited for more games in the spring.”

The women’s hockey team is coached by Sydney Flemister ’17 and Taryn Francischetti, a 2018 Drexel University graduate.

Tomann said this year’s team has a lot of new players, including five new freshmen: Sarah Gotthelf, Sydney Schreiber, Carlie Shorr and Kate Engel.

“We had a lot of older, experienced girls last year,” Tomann said. “This year we have girls who have never played hockey before on the team.”

Sophomore Jordan Finkelstein said those new players are already tapping into the team’s potential.

“Most of our girls this year had barely skated and now they’re playing competitive hockey,” Finkelstein said. “It’s really incredible to see how quickly they learn and grow in the sport.”

Shorr said despite the team’s losses this season, they always try to make the best of it.

“I look forward to playing with my teammates and facing new competition,” Shorr said. “It’s all about new experiences,”

Players on the team said the club is not well known on St. Joe’s campus, and sometimes that lack of recognition can be discouraging.

“I tell people I play for the women’s ice hockey team and a lot of times I get, ‘I didn’t even know we had a girls’ team’ in response,” Tomann said. “Hopefully, we can get stronger as a team and build a reputation on campus.”

The team plays at Oaks Ice Center and has practice once a week. Their playoffs begin in February 2020.

“Expect it to be a very fun game to watch,” Shorr said. “We would love to have people come watch us and cheer us on, so come and bring friends.”