Syracuse Crunch Edged by Hershey Bears, 4-3
AHL Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch Edged by Hershey Bears, 4-3

Published on March 27, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Syracuse Crunch News Release


Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke vs. the Hershey Bears
Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke vs. the Hershey Bears
(Syracuse Crunch, Credit: Eric Payne)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Crunch were edged by the Hershey Bears, 4-3, tonight at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

The loss moves the team to 38-20-3-2 on the season. Syracuse went 2-2-0-0 in the four-game season series against Hershey.

Crunch goaltender Brandon Halverson stopped 20-of-24 shots. Mitch Gibson earned the win turning aside 32-of-35 shots in net for the Bears. The Syracuse power play went 1-for-6 and shut down the lone Hershey man-advantage.

After a scoreless opening frame, the Bears rattled off three goals in three minutes in the second period. The first came at 7:16 when Wyatt Bongiovanni was in front of the net to redirect a sharp angle feed from Andrew Cristall. Cristall then added one of his own at 9:33 when he chipped in a close-range shot. A minute later, Hershey went up 3-0 off a shorthanded breakaway by Brett Leason. The Crunch responded with a pair of goals only 1:01 apart late in the period to climb back to just a one-goal deficit. Syracuse got on the board with a power-play goal at 15:02 when Dylan Duke was down low to tip in Matthew Peca's point shot. Just over a minute later, Jakob Pelletier stick handled down the slot and backhanded a last-minute feed for Conor Geekie to score.

Hershey regained their two-goal lead six minutes into the third period. Kyler Kupka centered a feed from beyond the goal line for Alex Suzdalev to score with a one-timer. Syracuse came back within one for a second time with just 4:03 remaining in the game when he Peca chipped a shot over Gibson from the slot. The Crunch continued to pepper shots, but were unable to find the equalizer and fell to the Bears.

The Crunch host the Rochester Americans tomorrow night.

Ticket packages for the 2025-26 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. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), X (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch).

Crunchables: Jakob Pelletier has the longest active points streak in the AHL with 14 games (6g, 15a)...Dylan Duke is second in the league with 31 goals this season. He leads the league with 17 power-play goals.

Check out the Syracuse Crunch Statistics

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Images from this story

Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke
Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke
(Eric Payne)		 Syracuse Crunch center Conor Geekie
Syracuse Crunch center Conor Geekie
(Eric Payne)		 Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke vs. the Hershey Bears
Syracuse Crunch center Dylan Duke vs. the Hershey Bears
(Eric Payne)



American Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2026


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