SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch were downed by the Hershey Bears, 2-1, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
Declan Carlile scored the Crunch’s lone goal as the team moves to 9-5-0-0 on the season.
Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 19-of-21 shots. Clay Stevenson turned aside 22-of-23 shots in net for the Bears. The Syracuse power play went 1-for-6, while the penalty kill went 3-for-4.
After a scoreless first period, the Bears broke the stalemate with a power-play goal 11 minutes into the middle frame. Ilya Protas fired a wrister from the bottom of the right circle that went off the far post and in.
Hershey added another goal at the 12:45 mark of the third period. Andrew Cristall was down low along the goal line to chip a close-range shot on net. His first attempt was stopped, but he got a stick on his own rebound and jammed it in. The Crunch finally responded with a power-play goal of their own late in the game. Conor Geekie set up Carlile for a rocket of a one-timer from the right point to pull the Crunch back within one, but the team ran out of time to complete their comeback and suffered a loss to the Bears.
The Crunch are back in action when they host the Belleville Senators tomorrow night.