AMERKS TAKE DOWN DEFENDING CHAMPS FOR OPENING NIGHT WIN
Villalta's near-perfect debut backstops Amerks to 3-1 season-opening win over Toronto
Oct 2, 2026The 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.
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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.
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.
Henrik Rybinski provided Toronto’s lone goal from Luke Haymes and Vinni Lettieri during the third period. Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj (0-1-0) stopped 17 of the 20 shots but took the defeat.
UP NEXT
The Amerks hit the road for the first time of the season as they face the Belleville Senators on Sunday, Oct. 4 for a 3:00 p.m. contest. All the action from CAA Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM WGR Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.