SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Brandon Halverson and the Syracuse Crunch shut out the Rochester Americans, 3-0, in the team's 32nd Home Opener tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
Halverson stopped all 31 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season. Matteo Pietroniro led the Crunch in scoring with two goals, while Wojciech Stachowiak added the other Crunch tally. Syracuse is now 3-0-0-0 on the season.
 
Amerks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 31-of-34 shots on the night. The Crunch power play was held scoreless on three opportunities, while the penalty kill went a perfect 2-for-2.
 
The Crunch were first on the board late in the opening frame. After some quick tic-tac-toe passing, Jakob Pelletier pulled Georgiev out of position and sent a cross-crease feed for Pietroniro to jam into an unmanned net on the back door.
 
Pietroniro doubled the Crunch lead four minutes into the second period with his second goal of the game. He got the puck along the blue line and fired a long wrister from the left point that found the top right corner of the net.
 
Syracuse added one more goal in the third period to solidify the Crunch win. Dylan Duke skated the puck down the right wing and fired a shot on net that was stopped, but the puck kicked up into the air for Stachowiak to bat in.
 
The Crunch travel to face the Belleville Senators tomorrow.
 
Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2025-26 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).
 
Crunchables: The Crunch are 17-9-1-1 all-time in home openers. They have won four straight home openers since 2022.