SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch were downed by the Charlotte Checkers, 3-2, tonight at Bojangles Coliseum.
Lucas Mercuri and Nick Abruzzese recorded goals for the Crunch as the team fell just short in their comeback effort. The Crunch dropped both of the weekend contests in Charlotte and move to 8-4-0-0 on the season.
Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson turned aside 25-of-28 shots. Kevin Mandolese earned the win stopped 28-of-30 in net for the Checkers. The Syracuse power play was held scoreless on five opportunities, while the penalty kill went a perfect 3-for-3.
The Checkers were first on the board 1:35 into the game. Colton Huard fired a long point shot that ricocheted off the end boards before bouncing off the netminder and cross the goal line. The Crunch quickly responded and evened the score just 1:21 later. Steven Santini skated the puck into the zone and dropped a pass back for Mercuri. He picked the puck up along the left-side boards and cut to the middle where he scored from one knee from between the circles.
Charlotte regained their lead 13 minutes in the middle frame when they capitalized on a turnover. Jake Livingstone sent a cross-slot feed for MacKenzie Entwistle to one-time from the left circle as they led a rush down the zone.
The Checkers made it a 3-1 game off a 2-on-1 rush early in the third period. Halverson made the stop on Ben Steeves left-side shot, but the forward found his own rebound as he cut across the crease and shoveled it in. The Crunch mounted a late comeback effort pulling back within one with 1:52 remaining in the game. Mitchell Chaffee threw a rink-wide pass over to Dylan Duke who then centered the puck for Abruzzese to jam in. Syracuse ran out of time to complete the comeback and fell to the Checkers for the second time this weekend.
The Crunch are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to face the Utica Comets.
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