Men’s Hockey Pours in Four to Defeat Wesleyan, 4-2

EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's hockey scored a pair of goals over the second and third periods, respectively, en route to a 4-2 victory over Wesleyan Sunday at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Wesleyan 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-4-2) | Wesleyan (1-5-0)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wesleyan snuck in front 6:35 into the contest when Owen Sweet chipped the puck by CJ Hapward to give the Cardinals a 1-0 cushion. Ethan Davidson and Hayden Hanes assisted on the game-opening goal.  

The Rams responded 3:20 into the middle period when Ryan Webb tucked the puck away in a scrum in front. Thomas Dempsey set up the score that was tipped over to Webb by Jack Robinson.  

Less than four minutes later, Suffolk snuck in front. Jack Kircher picked up the pieces of his own rebound, slid a pass to Scott McManus behind the Cardinals' cage, who wasted no time dishing to Evan England, who waited in front of the net for a quick one-timer that sent the blue-and-gold in front, 2-1, at the 7:08 mark. 

Insurance came from the blue-and-gold at the midway of the third. England secured the puck just inside the Rams' blue line. The freshman split a pair of Wesleyan defenders with a perfect go-ahead pass for Webb, who skated ahead for a one-on-one with Cardinals' goalie Patrick McDevitt. The junior captain sniped a shot into the back of the cage to pad Suffolk's advantage to a pair, 3-1.  

Havens etched his name on the score sheet as he tipped in a power play puck with 5:25 left on the clock in regulation. Tommy Whitford sent a slap shot towards the net that Havens was in the right place at the right time to extend the edge to 4-1. Josh Milso aided to the goal that stretched the gap to three.  

Wesleyan managed to tack on one more goal 2:30 later to cut the distance down to two, 4-2.   

Suffolk controlled the pace of play the rest of the way to clinch the victory.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Hapward registered 36 saves in the win. 
• McDevitt turned aside 27 shots in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Webb provided a pair of goals to Suffolk's offense. 
• England tallied one goal and one assist. 
• Havens rounded out the Rams scorers with one goal. 
• Dempsey, Kircher, McManus, Milso, Robinson and Whitford notched one helper apiece. 
• Wesleyan outshot Suffolk, 38-31. 
• The Rams went 1-for-2 on the power play. 
• Suffolk successfully skated off three penalties. 
• The Rams controlled the face-off circle, 35-28. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk met Wesleyan for the second time in program history, first since Jan. 3, 2015. 
• The Rams are unbeaten all-time against Wesleyan, 2-0-0. 
• The Rams hosted the Cardinals for the first time. 
• Suffolk has outscored Wesleyan 9-4 all-time. 
• Webb tied a personal-best in points (2) and goals (2). 
• England scored the first goal of his collegiate career and had his first-ever assist.
• Havens has scored goals in back-to-back games. He has found the back of the net three times this season. 
• Robinson handed out his second assist of the year. He has produced at least one point in back-to-back games. In that span the rookie has one goal and one helper.
• Dempsey recorded his first point of the season on one assist.  
• McManus handed out his third assist of the season. 
• Kircher logged his first assist of the year. 
• Milso, Robinson and Whitford both logged their second assists of the year.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk concludes its first semester schedule this weekend, Dec. 6-7, with a Conference of New England (CNE) home-and-home series with Johnson & Wales. The Rams host the Wildcats Friday before battling at JWU Saturday. Both contests have 6:00 p.m. starts.