Amerks Dropped Home Contest to Comets, 7-4
- Chris Drummond
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Christopher Drummond
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
— A fast start wasn’t enough for the Rochester Americans on Sunday afternoon.
Despite erasing an early deficit and riding a hat trick from Riley Fiddler-Schultz, the Amerks couldn’t maintain their momentum in a 7-4 loss to the Utica Comets at Blue Cross Arena. The defeat snapped Rochester’s bid to sweep a three-game season mini-series against Utica after winning the first two matchups.
The contest marked the first of three straight home games for Rochester coming out of the AHL break, but the Amerks were unable to capitalize.
Utica struck first when Shane Lanchbury found the back of the net early in the opening period. Rochester responded quickly, as Trevor Kuntar netted his 13th goal of the season to even the score. Fiddler-Schultz added to the offensive surge, helping the Amerks keep pace in a tightly contested first period that ended tied. Utica narrowly outshot Rochester 13-12 in the frame.
The turning point came in the second period.
Utica ramped up its physical play, finishing checks and generating sustained offensive pressure. Angus Crookshank scored the first of his two goals in the middle frame, igniting a Comets surge that saw them seize control of the game. By the end of the second period, Utica had built a 5-3 advantage — a lead it would not relinquish.
Scott Ratzlaff made the start in goal for Rochester, with Devon Levi getting a rest after playing the previous day. Ratzlaff allowed seven goals — the most he has conceded this season — as the Comets capitalized on their chances. Frustrated fans voiced their displeasure, chanting for Levi as the game slipped away.
Amerks head coach Michael Leone was quick to defend his young netminder postgame.
“He is just a 20-year-old kid,” Leone said. “People are chanting Levi’s name, and the kid has to go through this. It wasn’t just on him. It’s just frustrating to hear that and see that. He is just a kid, and he is playing his (expletive) off. I support him 100 percent.”
Fiddler-Schultz provided the offensive highlight for Rochester, scoring his 13th, 14th and 15th goals of the season for his first hat trick of the year. Still, the milestone came with little consolation.
“I have been working on being in front of the net diligently,” Fiddler-Schultz said. “It was nice to see a couple of them go in. It is cool to get a hat trick, but not satisfying to get it in a loss. Much rather have the win. In the second period, I think we let our foot off the gas a little bit. We stopped doing things that were making us successful. We weren't dialed in as a team with our zone, and that fueled their offense.”
Leone acknowledged the difficulty of defeating the same opponent three consecutive times in a short span.
“Beating a team three times in a row is really difficult to do,” Leone said. “It’s almost like a miniseries; it is just tough to do. We’ve got a great Charlotte team coming in here, so we will have to move past this and chalk it up to it being one of those nights.”
Rochester returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.