OJR’s Delahaye grew into a complete player and leader for Wildcats
Hannah Delahaye’s favorite memory during her time with the Owen J. Roberts girls lacrosse program came in 2018 during her first year with the high school team.
Delahaye had been to the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship in the fall with the girls soccer team but played mostly spectator as the Wildcats took home a league title.
With the lacrosse team, Delahaye was one of those in the center stage during a PAC title game that lasted two days due to a lightning delay. She scored three goals, including the final two of the contest, to seal an 8-6 PAC title victory.
“It was kind of my first big break where I got to take control of some things and what the outcome was,” Delahaye said. “I just remember going out there and tearing it up. I kind of blacked out at some point because I just kept plowing and working as hard as I can.”
Those types of games and moments have been quite plentiful in just two seasons at OJR for Delahaye, who played her freshman season at the Hill School and had her senior campaign recently eliminated by the coronavirus pandemic.
She was a part of two PAC titles, two District 1 quarterfinal runs and two trips to the state playoffs for Wildcats’ lacrosse team, bringing a fiery, competitive spirit and instant offense to the field.
Delahaye, a Towson University lacrosse commit, was a first team AllPAC Liberty and first team Mercury All-Area selection as a sophomore and junior. She’s scored 194 goals in her career, tallying 102 in 2019 when she was a U.S. Lacrosse Academic AllAmerican.
“Hannah is a strong, fast, determined, and remarkably skilled player,” OJR coach David Schlesinger said. “Her personality is as big as her game. She is the grit that drives the team and loves shouldering the load for the team.”
Goals like capturing another PAC title and advancing deep in the postseason, breaking the OJR career goals record and securing a spot on the U.S. Lacrosse All-American team were on Delahaye’s mind entering this season. She also had other ambitions. Though she had already established herself as a dominant player at the high school level, Delahaye was set to add a new element to her game this spring. Schlesinger approached her in the fall about switching from attacker to midfield, which Delahaye said she hasn’t played regularly in many years.
“That was going to provide some new challenges for Hannah, but we were really excited to see her play,” Schlesinger said.
It was an adjustment that required a lot of preparation during the offseason from Delahaye. However, she was excited to see how the expansion of her game might help not only this year’s OJR team but her development down the road at the next level.
“I’ve always been an attacker. I’m very picky with the decisions that I make,” Delahaye said. “One of the big things was that I had to focus in and hone in on was where I needed to build my strengths and that was speed and endurance. I think if I would have played midfield this year, it would have completely changed my game on who I would be in college.”
“What she’s learning is that she is perhaps even more effective without the ball than with the ball,” Schlesinger added. “When she has the ball, then defenses can shift over to her, double team her, face guard her, etc. Without the ball she’s truly exceptional recognizing when to cut, the timing to cut and how efficient she is as a scorer.”
Schlesinger also noticed something else about Delahaye heading into the spring — another step forward that had less to do with her abilities on the field.
While she’s always thought of herself as a leader and has certainly been looked up to by her younger peers during her time at OJR, Delahaye grew into a larger leadership role during the offseason.
From the start of fall ball, Delahaye took control. She drove younger players from the school to practice, coached winter league games and ensured the underclassmen were present for offseason workouts.
Before the season began and was promptly ended, Delahaye was named one of the team captains for the first time.
“I can’t remember her missing a workout or stick-work clinic, or winter league game,” Schlesinger said. “She’s really taken on the mantle of leading this team. It’s something that she’s wanted and certainly earned it and demonstrated that she’s become a very accomplished, effective leader.”
Delahaye can remember the guidance she received from her older peers when she arrived at OJR from Hill as a sophomore in 2017-18, particularly from Danika Swech (Delaware), who was on the soccer, diving and lacrosse teams with her.
Passing that on to her younger OJR teammates was one of her goals before she headed on to continue her lacrosse career at Towson.
“I think that a lot of my success and confidence comes from Danika because she was so great to me,” Delahaye said. “And I hopefully shared that love to some of the underclassmen the past two years that I’ve taken under my wing and showed them the ropes.”