SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Rochester Americans, 7-1, in the first meeting of a 12-game season series tonight at Blue Cross Arena.
 
Brendan Furry potted his first goal of the season and the lone Crunch goal of the night. Jarred Tinordi and Dylan Duke both earned points with the helpers. The Crunch are now 1-2-0-0 on the season heading into their Home Opener tomorrow night.
 
Crunch goaltender Olivier Rodrigue turned aside 13-of-19 shots before being relieved by Mads Sogaard to start the third period. Sogaard went on to stop 10-of-11. Amerks netminder Matthew Villalta allowed one goal on 24 shots. The Syracuse power play was held scoreless on four opportunities, while Rochester went 3-for-7.
 
Rochester opened scoring with a pair of goals late in the first period. Rodrigue made the initial save on Riley Fiddler-Schultz's left-side shot, but the rebound came out for Matteo Constantini to chip in at the 17:12 mark. Less than two minutes later, Constantini set up Carson Meyer for a shot from the slot.
 
The Amerks added another just 28 seconds into the middle frame when Jason Polin tipped in a pass from Conor Sheary on the man-advantage to make it 3-0. The Crunch finally responded at 5:54. Villalta blocked Tinordi's initial shot, but left the rebound out for Furry to bury into a wide open net. Rochester went on to score three more goals before the second intermission. Sheary forced a turnover and set up Red Savage for a wrister from the top of the left circle at 8:45. Halfway through the frame, Jason Polin tipped in a shot from Matthew Peca before Aidan McDonough sent the puck in from the right circle at 15:46 for a pair of back-to-back power-play goals.
 
Trevor Kuntar added the final tally for the Amerks late in the third period when he fired in a rebound opportunity to give Rochester the 7-1 victory.
 
The Crunch return home to Syracuse to host the Belleville Senators tomorrow for the 33rd Home Opener presented by Upstate University Hospital. 
 
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: Zach Uens and Jansen Harkins made their debut for the Crunch tonight… The Syracuse Crunch and Rochester Americans will meet 12 times this season.