Although key injuries, absences and resignations have left the Women’s Hockey Club quite literally short-handed, the club is far from skating on thin ice. In fact, they’re dancing in the locker room.

“There’s a couple of choice songs that we like to listen to,” said senior Erin Enger, defenseman and president of the club. “We dance around the locker room and it helps us get ready for the games.”

That enthusiasm may seem shocking to some, considering the club has dropped 13 straight games after opening the season with a win and a tie against Notre Dame.

Enger tore her anterior cruciate ligament in the second series of the season, the first of many scratches on an already small roster.

Iowa State’s starting goaltender left the team, followed by the head coach.

“We’re struggling with keeping players around and keeping everybody here,” said senior Joe McCarron, one of the team’s two remaining coaches. “Losing our coach and goalie has forced us into a transitional phase, but we’re still learning and having fun.”

Although the face of the club is vastly different from the beginning of the season, it was excited to add new members.

“I remember thinking back [to] last summer. It was awesome, we had all these players coming back that had played together for a year,” said senior wing Catherine Swoboda. “But all of a sudden it’s midseason and we have players still learning how to skate, just becoming familiar with the sport, which is great.”

Despite a group of new players joining the team at semester break, the ISU club played three games on consecutive days in International Falls, Minn., last month with an eight-player lineup – a roster that didn’t include a goalie.

“Our goalie [Sara Kaplan] is a grad student and her department sent her to Belgium, so I volunteered to get tormented a little [and take her position],” senior defenseman Amanda Reverts said. “I played one period in high school.”

Despite the absences and mishaps, the club has remained optimistic.

“It’s easy to stay motivated for me, because my friends are on the team and I have a lot of respect for all my teammates,” Swoboda said. “It’s easy to keep going when everyone’s so upbeat and supportive all the time.”

From his position behind the bench, McCarron said he could see the support the players give each other even during the worst losses.

“Everybody has their own thing that they go through, but when somebody’s down the girl next to them leans over and gives them a nudge and helps them through it,” he said. “Relying on the 14 other people around them in the locker room keeps everyone going.”

The players made it clear that it wasn’t just each other they looked to rely on, especially after their coach left the team.

“I think coach McCarron has really stepped up to the role quite well, he had some pretty big shoes to fill,” Enger said. “Coach [Michael] Owen has also made a tremendous commitment our team. He makes huge sacrifices to be with us. They’re a huge reason that we’re out there.”

McCarron admitted that the club’s situation this year is unlike any other he’s faced in his years of hockey. For a team that dances in the locker room, the coach has had to come up with some unorthodox strategies of his own.

“Every time we go into the locker room I try to make sure I have a joke lined up and get a little chuckle out of everyone and that keeps us going,” he said. “Everyone’s a little goofy, but I just want everyone to have fun. That’s goal number one.”