The Rochester Americans (1-0-0-0) stormed out to a 3-0 lead and relied on the strength of a near-perfect performance from goaltender Matthew Villalta to earn a 3-1 season-opening win over the defending Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies (0-1-0-0) Friday at Blue Cross Arena.

With the win, the Amerks have won four straight games on home ice versus the Marlies and five of the last six regular season games dating back to the 2024-25 campaign.

Riley Fiddler-Schultz opened the scoring midway through the second stanza before rookie Jake Richard, who made his professional debut, added another. Veteran forward Conor Sheary netted a third-period goal to make it a 3-0 lead for Rochester. Trevor Kuntar, Carson Meyer, Gavin McCarthy each added an assist as did newcomers Matthew Peca and Thomas Bordeleau as Rochester earned it second straight season-opening win over the Marlies.

Dennis Gilbert, Jason Polin, and Aidan McDonough all made their Amerks debuts in the win.

Goaltender Matt Villalta (1-0-0) was nearly perfect in his Amerks debut, stopping 35 of the 36 shots he faced to earn the win. The veteran netminder stopped carried a shutout into the final two minutes of regulation, making all 16 saves he faced through the first 40 minutes of play.

The Rochester Americans (1-0-0-1) erased a pair of one-goal deficits to earn at least a point, but were unable to complete the comeback, dropping a 3-2 shootout decision Sunday afternoon against the Belleville Senators (1-1-0-0) at CIBC Place.

By forcing the penalty-filled contest to go beyond regulation, Rochester, which finished the weekend taking three out of a possible four points to open its 71^st AHL season, has gone 4-0-1-1 in its last six visits to Belleville dating back to the 2024-25 campaign.

Matthew Peca and Trevor Kuntar, who both registered an assist in the season opener, also found the back of the net in the first and third periods, respectively. Jason Polin recorded his first point with Rochester, while Red Savage and Vsevolod Komarov notched their first assists of the young season. Thomas Bordeleau recorded his second assist in as many games to complete the scoring for the Amerks.

Peca scored Rochester’s lone goal in the shootout, while Polin, Conor Sheary and Aidan McDonough were unsuccessful on their respective attempts.

Goaltender Matt Villalta (1-0-1) made 27 saves, including a pair in the shootout, but suffered the defeat. The veteran netminder faced just five shots over the final 25 minutes of play before stopping two of the four Belleville shooters he faced in the breakaway challenge.