Going into Friday night’s game against Renesselaer (RPI), senior forward, and assistant captain, Brianna Delaney had compiled 97 points throughout her career thus far as a Colonial and remained tied with Sara O’Malley for the all-time points record in Robert Morris women’s hockey history.
Just six minutes into the game Delaney earned a secondary assist on Rebecca Vint’s seventh goal of the season. The assist brought her to 98 points in her career and sole possession at the top of the record board.
“It’s a great accomplishment, and it is even more exciting that I accomplished it while we are having such a great start to the season.”
While it was a great moment for Delaney, her teammates were proud of her as well.
“Me, Brianna, and Stack are the only seniors, and as such a small class we are very close, so naturally I’m excited for her,” explained senior captain, Paige Pietrangelo. “She works hard on and off the ice and maintains her composure.”
Even though Delaney did not want to make breaking the record her focus, since there was still an entire game to play, she does admit that being on the road took some of the weight off of her shoulders.
“I think there was a little less pressure only because there wasn’t anyone asking about it or talking about it to me, I just tried not to worry too much about it,” she said.
After a 5-1 win Friday night, the Colonials faced RPI again the following night. Delaney tallied the first goal of the game less than three minutes in on the power play.
Delaney struck again just five minutes into the second period, this time with an even strength goal, to reach 100 total points in her career.
“I think a key part to this is she still has a majority of her senior season to continue adding points to the ‘new’ record,” Pietrangelo said. “In March [when she’s finished her NCAA career] she will have left something behind at RMU.”
The Colonials went on to win the contest by a score of 4-2, and despite breaking the record, Delaney attempted to push it into the back of her mind until after the weekend was over.
“To be honest I didn’t think too much about it at the time,” explains Delaney. “It was more an after thought after we swept RPI.”
Delaney finished the weekend with two goals, one assist and a plus-1 rating throughout the two game series. While she experienced a flurry of emotions after breaking the record, she is also glad it is over with, and she is able to move forward with her senior season.
“I think that it is a relief to an extent, because I’m glad I broke the record, but now I don’t have to think about it anymore,” she explained. “I tried not to think about it too much before and just focused on the game anyway. But there is definitely a little weight off my shoulders.”
While everyone involved with the women’s hockey program is happy for Brianna Delaney, there is one person whose excitement is just a little bit more than everyone else, her sister, and teammate, Cobina Delaney.
“It’s a pretty exciting time for my sister, as well as the team. Brianna wasn’t even aware that she was coming close to breaking the record until others brought it to her attention,” explains Cobina Delaney. “Personally, when she broke the record I couldn’t have been happier for her because I never thought she would be breaking school records. This is something great that Brie has achieved and it’s even more special because I was able to be with her when she accomplished this.”
