AMERKS UNABLE TO HOLD LEAD IN 4-2 LOSS TO CRUNCH
McDonough, Peca provide the scoring, Boyko makes 24 saves in season debut
Oct 17, 2026The Rochester Americans (3-2-0-1) built a 2-0 first-period lead only to see it wiped out by four straight unanswered goals from the Syracuse Crunch (2-3-0-0) in what became a 4-2 loss in the road trip finale Saturday evening at Upstate Medical University Arena.
| GAME SUMMARY | PHOTO GALLERY |
Through the first two games of the 12-game season series, each club has won once with the home team coming out victorious each time. The Amerks, who picked up a 4-1 win last night, finished a three-game road swing with a 1-2-0-0 record against three different North Division opponents.
AIDAN McDONOUGH scored the Amerks’ first shorthanded goal of the season midway through the first period before MATTHEW PECA converted a power-play one-timer against his former club.
CARSON MEYER, CONOR SHEARY, and JASON POLIN each recorded an assist to round out Rochester’s scoring.
Goaltender TALYN BOYKO made his Amerks debut after serving as a backup to MATT VILLALTA (3-1-1) through the first five games of the campaign. Boyko, who appeared in his first game since April 11, 2016 with KalPa Kuopio of Liiga, made 24 saves.
Lucas Mercuri, Sam O’Reilly, Jansen Harkins, and Clark Bishop each scored their first goals of the season for Syracuse, which entered the contest having lost its previous three games (0-3-0-0).
Netminder Mads Søgaard (2-1-0) made his fourth start of the campaign for the Crunch, stopping 15 of the 17 shots he faced, including all 11 shots he faced over the final 40 minutes of regulation.
UP NEXT
The Amerks are back on home ice on Wednesday, Oct. 21 for a quick matchup against the intrastate rival Utica Comets at 7:05 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division matchup will be broadcast live on The Sports Leader, WGR Rochester (95.7 FM/950 AM), and streamed on AHLTV on FloHockey.