Syracuse Crunch falls to Hershey Bears, 4-1

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Hershey Bears, 4-1, tonight at Giant Center.

The loss moves the Crunch to 34-19-4-2 on the season and the teams split the two-game season series.

Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 16-of-19 shots. Clay Stevenson turned aside 15-of-16 in net for the Bears. Syracuse was held scoreless on three power play opportunities, while Hershey went 1-for-3.

The Crunch opened scoring 12:45 into the first period. Stevenson made the save on Max Groshev’s shot from the right circle, but the rebound came out for Gabriel Fortier to send in as he battled for position down low.

Hershey tied the game right off a face off early in the middle frame. Jimmy Huntington won the draw in the left circle and sent the puck back for Pierrick Dubé to score with a quick wrister. The Bears took over the lead with a power-play goal at the 17:36 mark when Huntington was in front of the net to bang in a rebound.

The Bears added another one just 34 seconds into the third period as Riley Sutter tipped in Vincent Iorio’s right-point wrister. Sutter then hit the empty net in the final minutes to secure the win.

The Crunch are back in action when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Single game tickets and ticket packages for the 2023-24 season are on sale now and can be purchased in person at the Crunch office located inside the Upstate Medical University Arena at Onondaga County War Memorial at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse, by calling the office at 315-473-4444 or online through Ticketmaster.

Crunchables: Gabriel Fortier has goals in five straight road games.