Through all the negative news, the Crunch were able to find some bright light this weekend. On Sunday, Joel Vermin and Jeff Tambellini tallied two goals each and propelled the Crunch to a 7-3 victory over the Comets in Utica. While beating the Comets is always a great thing, it also reopened the race for the AmeriCU Galaxy Cup. During the Crunch's nine game losing streak, they also fell behind Utica four games to one in the Galaxy Cup series. Since then, the Crunch have been fighting just to keep Utica from clinching the Cup for the third straight year. They have done the improbable and beat the Comets three straight games to even the series at four games a piece. When it comes to the tiebreakers, the Crunch and Comets are pretty much even all the way. They both each have two wins at home and two wins on the road in the series. The only advantage goes to Utica, who leads the total goals scored category 24-22.
While the Crunch have a important weekend of matches with Toronto and Albany this week, the next weekend will decide who wins the Galaxy Cup. The Crunch travel to Utica on Friday, April 15th for a 7pm match-up before returning home Saturday the 16th to host the Comets at 7pm. Of course, both teams can win a game and keep the series knotted up. If that happens, tie breakers will decide the fate of the trophy. For the Crunch, sealing it up with two wins would not only secure the Galaxy Cup for the first time, but would also help them claim a playoff spot. While the Cup is important, both teams are trying to get a spot in the postseason. Of course, the Crunch need to take care of business this weekend and take down the Marlies and Devils. If they do that and then come away with two wins against the Comets, they have a very slim chance of still making the playoffs. If the Comets keep winning, they will wrap up the third and final North Division playoff spot. So, there is a lot to play for as the season winds down for the Crunch.
This weekend, the Crunch host Albany on Friday and then invited Toronto into the War Memorial on Saturday. Both games slated for 7pm starts.
Thanks/Credits:
theahl.com
syracusecrunch.com
Picture: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTs84UZXIAAidYh.jpg