SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Rochester Americans, 5-2, in the winner-take-all Game 5 to advance to the North Division Finals.
The Crunch will move on to face the Cleveland Monsters.
Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson earned the win stopping 16-of-18 shots. Devon Levi turned aside 15-of-19 in net for the Amerks. Syracuse was held scoreless on three power play opportunities, while Rochester went 1-of-3.
The Crunch scored two goals in the first period before the Amerks even registered a shot on goal. The first came just 2:28 into the game when Declan Carlile fired in a long shot from the point. Six minutes later, Emil Lilleberg set Cole Koepke up for a shot from the right circle through traffic to double the lead. Rochester stole one back late in the frame to make it a one-goal game. Joseph Cecconi threw a cross-zone feed to Jeremy Davies for a quick redirection on the back door.
Syracuse added another one halfway through the middle frame to go up, 3-1. Félix Robert skated the puck down the left wing on an odd-man rush and sent the puck across the slot for Waltteri Merelä to chip in. Two minutes later, Rochester responded with a power-play goal. Jiri Kulich threw the puck towards the net for Michael Mersch to score.
The Crunch scored again on another odd-man rush late in the third period to build on their lead. Alex Barré-Boulet skated the puck down the left wing and sent a last-minute feed across the slot for Koepke to chip in for his second of the night. Robert then potted one into the empty net to secure a Crunch win and send the team to the North Division Finals.
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