SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch rallied back to force overtime, but were downed by the Rochester Americans, 3-2, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
 
After going down by two goals, Brendan Furry got the Crunch on the board in the second period before Ethan Gauthier tied the game with just 1:06 remaining in the third period. Lucas Mercuri and Dylan Duke recorded multi-point games tallying the assists on both Crunch goals. Despite the loss, the Crunch earned one point as the team moves to 3-4-1-0 on the season and 1-1-1-0 in the 12-game season series against the Amerks.
 
Crunch goaltender Mads Sogaard stopped 22-of-25 shots. Matthew Villalta turned aside 22-of-24 between the pipes for the Amerks. The Syracuse power play was held scoreless on three opportunities, while Rochester went 1-for-3.

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The Amerks opened scoring amid a penalty riddled first period that saw three fights in the first 13 minutes of play. The first goal came at 10:42 when Gavin McCarthy fired in a wrister from the bottom of the right circle. Three minutes later, Matthew Peca scored from the same spot while on the man-advantage to double the lead.
 
The Crunch stole one back with a goal in the middle frame. Mercuri fed Furry as he came skating down the zone. The winger went forehand, backhand and then stuffed the puck behind Villalta.
 
Syracuse rallied back in the third period and tied the game in the final minutes. After a stuff attempt was blocked, the puck came to Gauthier who was next to the goal post. He got his stick on the puck and shoved it across the goal line.
 
Trevor Kuntar eventually netted the game-winner for Rochester during a scramble in front of the net 1:59 into the extra frame.
 
The Crunch travel to face the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow night.
 
Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2026-27 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: Lucas Mercuri has three multi-point games through the first eight games this season…Dylan Duke recorded his first multi-point game of the season tonight.