Box Score Troy, N.Y. - Fewer than 24 hours after breaking the program's career points record, senior assistant captain Brianna Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / NCCP Raiders) notched the opening score along with the game-winning goal to become the first Colonial in program history to hit the 100-point plateau as the Robert Morris University women's hockey team swept a road series from RPI with a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Houston Field House.
With the win, Robert Morris moves to 5-1-0 on the season, which is the best six-game start in program history. It also marks the first time RMU has ever won five games before the calendar flipped to November.
Delaney, who tallied her program-record 10th-career multi-goal game Saturday, reached the century mark when she put one home at the 5:01 mark of the second period not long after a shot by her younger sister, junior Cobina Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / Ottawa Senators), was saved. Brianna Delaney's two-goal effort was also her 25th-career multi-point performance, leaving her just one shy of tying the Colonials' record.
Following in Delaney's footsteps, freshman Rebecca Vint (Caledon, Ontario / Brampton Junior Thunder) continued the unbelievable start to her collegiate career by recording a goal in her sixth straight game, the first time any Colonial has scored in any six consecutive contests. The rookie also snatched an assist to register her fifth multi-point performance in six games thus far. Vint's blistering start has her with 15 points, including nine goals, in the first half dozen games of her collegiate career.
Sophomore Thea Imbrogno (Etobicoke, Ontario / Mississauga Jr. Chiefs) provided the primary assist on Delaney's opening goal, extending her regular-season point streak to 15 games. The helper also pushed Imbrogno's career point total to an even 40, a figure which is among the top 10 all-time at RMU.
For the second straight day, Robert Morris grabbed an early lead when the visitors struck just 2:45 into the opening frame. After receiving a centering pass from Imbrogno, Delaney fired a shot under the Engineer goalie's blocker to put RMU on top, 1-0. Vint received a secondary assist on the play.
It did not take long for RPI to respond as the hosts tied the proceedings fewer than three minutes later, albeit with some fortune, after a centering pass deflected off a Colonial skate and into the net.
Neither team could generate many shots after the two quick goals although RMU nearly took the lead when sophomore defensemen Anneline Lauziere (St. Thomas, Ontario / London Jr. Devilettes) had a blast hit the pipe. However, Lauziere could not be kept off the scoring sheet for long as she sent a pass from the corner to the front of the cage where junior Dayna Newsom (Oakville, Ontario / Oakville Ice) pounded it home at the 17:11 mark of the first, giving each player her first point of the season in the process.
Robert Morris had a skater taken away for the first time late in the opening period, which forced the Colonials to play shorthanded. The penalty-kill unit was up to the task, though, and the successful kill gave RMU some momentum.
After killing off the man-advantage, Robert Morris took six of the next seven shots on goal before the blasts finally paid off when Delaney scored for the second time. Cobina Delaney and junior Kelsey Thomas (Hamilton, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) added the assists on the play. Cobina Delaney assisted on a goal for her older sibling for the fourth time in their careers and the second time this season while Thomas collected a point for the second straight day.
Just like after Delaney's first score, the Engineers responded almost immediately after she lit the lamp in the second stanza as well when RPI tallied a power-play goal with just over 12 minutes remaining in the period.
The hosts soon received a chance to tie when a Colonial was given a penalty just over a minute later. Robert Morris refused to give up the lead, though, as it blocked four shot attempts during the two-minute advantage to keep the score at 3-2.
In the final minute of the second, RPI was granted another power play, but RMU once again generated a successful kill, spanning the two periods, to protect the lead as it only conceded one shot during the Engineer advantage.
Imbrogno nearly added an insurance goal near the midpoint of the third when her shot hit the post, but as it turned out junior goalie Kristen DiCiocco (Niagara Falls, Ontario / Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) and the Colonial defense would not need it. RMU held on over the closing minutes, despite the Engineers utilizing the extra attacker, to claim the victory as Vint added the fourth tally in waning seconds.
DiCiocco earned the win in net as she was in between the pipes for all 60 minutes to move to 4-1 on the season. The Colonials have given up just four even-strength goals in the first six games of their campaign.
Senior captain Paige Pietrangelo (Niagara Falls, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) and junior Jamie Joslin (Richmond Hill, Ontario / Aurora Panthers) both blocked five shots on the afternoon, helping the Colonials exceed 20 blocked shots as a team for the fourth-consecutive game.
Robert Morris held RPI to just 18 shots on goal, tying the Engineers' season low.
After getting off to a strong start on its program-record stretch on the road, the Colonials will look to keep rolling next weekend when they travel to face St. Cloud State for a pair of games. Robert Morris will face the Huskies Friday, Oct. 28, at 8:07 p.m. to open the series.
