SALEM, Mass. – Gavin Havens put on his hero cape as he potted the game-winning goal 1:07 into overtime to send Suffolk men's hockey to a 3-2 thrilling season-opening victory over Salem State Saturday at Rockett Arena. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Salem State 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0-0) | Salem State (0-2-0)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk capitalized on a Salem State turnover in its own zone to light the lamp first. Ryan Webb put home a rebound six minutes into the action for the only score of the opening period.  

Keagan O'Donoghue set up Landyn Greatorex for the equalizer at the 14:30 of the second. The power play marker evened the score at 1-all.  

The duo of Greatorex and O'Donoghue partnered up for the Vikings again five minutes into the third. The Greatorex found O'Donoghue alone on the left wing after a pileup in front of the net, which left space for O'Donoghue to score the go-ahead goal.  

Just over two minutes later the score locked again. Cole Scott tucked away a Shane Adler rebound at the 6:48 mark of the third to level the game at 2-2.  

Haven's game-winner came as the sophomore broke towards the net and had the puck deflected off his skate by SSU's goalie Aaron Mercer. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• CJ Hapward had 38 saves in the victory. 
• Mercer recorded 41 stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Havens potted the game-winning goal, he was one of three Rams to produce one goal. He was the only Suffolk skater with multiple points as he assisted on Scott's game-tying goal. 
• Webb and Scott netted one goal apiece. 
• Josh Milso, Adler and Jake Grace dished out one assist each. 
• Suffolk outshot Salem State, 44-40. 
• The Rams went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Vikings went 1-for-4 on man-up chances.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk won its first season-opener since 2020-21.
• The game one win is the Rams first in the Shawn McEachern era. 
• Suffolk is now 11-13-1 in season debuts dating back to 1999. 
• The Rams pulled the curtain back on their schedule as the away team for the first time since 2019-10.
• Suffolk sports a 4-4-0 record on the road in the first outing of the year and its 1-0-0 under McEachern's guidance when playing game one on the road. 
• Suffolk went into overtime in its first contest of the campaign for the first time since starting the 2015-16 season with a 4-3 OT win over Assumption. 
• Suffolk won its fourth straight game over Salem State to move to 5-2-2 all-time against the Vikings. 
• The blue-and-gold needed overtime to decide a winner against SSU for the third time, first since Jan. 3, 2018. 
• Tonight's result is the first overtime decision between Suffolk and Salem State in the all-time series.
• The Rams are now 1-0-2 when playing in OT against the Vikings. 
• Suffolk is now 2-0-1 when playing Salem State at Rockett Arena. 
• Suffolk played in overtime for the first time since Jan. 5, 2024 when it went to OT versus Connecticut College in the 58th Codfish Bowl. 
• The Rams won their first OT game besting Wentworth in overtime, 2-1, Jan. 14, 2023.
• Havens tied a career-high two points. 
• Havens had his first collegiate game-winning goal. 
• Adler recorded his first point as a Ram, an assist. 
• Adler and Michael McEachern skated in a Suffolk sweater for the first time in their collegiate careers. 
• Evan England, Tommy Whitford, Phil Feinberg, Kyle Pelletier, Jack Robinson, and Nolan Leonard made their collegiate debuts. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will takes its winning momentum into its Conference of New England calendar that starts this weekend, Nov. 8-9, with a home-and-home series against Endicott. The Rams host the Gulls Friday in Eastie at 5:00 p.m., before traveling to Beverly, Massachusetts Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. puck drop.