Syracuse wins defensive battle against Amerks

By: Zachary Harnischfeger

ROCHESTER, NY-- The Amerks came into tonight looking to ride the high of a dominant 7-4 win over the Laval Rocket on Saturday night. Offensive woes and a strong Syracuse defense led to a 2-1 loss. The loss drops the Amerks to 20-15-3-1 on the season.

"I think we just got to keep doing the same thing," Amerks goaltender Devon Levi said. "I don't think we played bad tonight. Their goalie played well. The offense has been good and getting a lot of opportunities. It'll come. Last game I was here we scored seven and it kind of looked like the same type of game. More often than not, this game ends up being a win."

Amerks goalie Devon Levi during warm-ups. (Photo Credit: Chamberlain Bauder, 89.1 the Point)

Devon Levi made his fourth start of the season in goal for the Amerks. He recorded 16 saves on 18 shots in the loss.

Across the ice, Hugo Alnefelt got the start for the Crunch. He recorded 22 saves on 23 shots en route to the victory.

The Crunch struck first at the 7:43 mark in the first period after center Waltteri Merela scored a short-handed goal that deflected off the crossbar and snuck past Levi.

The Americans responded right back at the 10:02 mark in the first period after a Joseph Cecconi shot was tipped in by center Mason Jobst to knot things up at one apiece. This was Jobst's 10th goal of the season. The first period ended in a 1-1 tie.

Mason Jobst (#26) and his teammates after celebrating his goal. (Photo Credit: Chamberlain Bauder, 89.1 the Point)

Neither team could generate much offense in the second period. Syracuse controlled possession for most of the period and was finally able to score with 14.6 seconds remaining on a Mitchell Chaffee goal to give the Crunch the 2-1 lead.

Syracuse and Rochester exchanged scoring opportunities throughout the entire third period but both came up empty, leading to a 2-1 Crunch victory. The Crunch have now won six out of their last seven games.

"We had great looks the last 10 to 12 minutes," Amerks head coach Seth Appert said. "We had a breakaway in the third period, a partial breakaway, and a two-on-one around the front of that. We were very good in the third and created enough and just didn't finish some of it. We have to finish better. And you have to credit Syracuse, they blocked a lot of shots and Alnefelt was beyond excellent tonight."

The Amerks will be back in action on Friday night when they travel to the Place Bell Arena to take on the Laval Rocket. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.