Amerks power past Monsters

By: Elias Vega-Diaz / Sports Writer

Amerks LW #11 Zac Funk celebrating after scoring on Nov. 4, 2026. (Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu/Rochester Americans)

ROCHESTER, NY - Coming off a 6-3 victory against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on October 30th, the Rochester Americans welcomed the Cleveland Monsters at home on Wednesday night. Powered by a two-goal performance by Jason Polin, the Amerks would defeat the Monsters 4-1 to secure their first Wednesday home win since January 14, 2026.

"You gotta find ways to win games in this league," head coach Michael Leone said postgame. "I thought our guys did a really good job with that, especially our last couple of games."

For the Monsters, goaltender Evan Gardner would start behind the net. Gardner started four games in goal for Cleveland, with his most recent outing against the Milwaukee Admirals ending in a win, collecting 30 saves and giving up two goals. In goal for the Amerks was Matt Villalta, who started all but one of Rochester's 10 games. His most recent start was the win at home against the Phantoms, allowing three goals and tallying 19 saves.

Both sides remained scoreless through the 11 minutes of the opening period. The Monsters led Rochester eight shots on goal to six.

The Amerks would open the scoring at 11:28 with a goal from left winger Zac Funk, assisted by Liam Valente, to lead Cleveland 1-0. This was Funk's second goal of the season, coming off a feed from the back of the net by Valente. This was Funk's first goal in two games after finishing with a goal apiece against the Utica Comets and Syracuse Crunch.

"Funkers got, I don't know, he's got four or five points in nine games..." Leone said. "He's taking steps in his game and his development, which is huge for the team."

Rochester would add to their lead with 47 seconds left in the first period after center Riley Fiddler-Schultz found the back of the net past Copley to lead 2-0. Fiddler-Schultz crashed the net to notch his fourth goal of the season, with a primary assist from Dennis Gilbert and Valente receiving credit on the secondary assist. The Monsters led the Amerks in shots on goal, 11-9, at the end of the period.

"There's certain ways I want us to play," Leone said. "I like to be really aggressive. I like to pressure the puck. I think sometimes you gotta, when you got this many new guys in the lineup, I think you just focus on the things that you need to be good at to have a chance to win a game like this." Cleveland's Tate Singleton was sent to the penalty box at 2:25 in the second period, allowing the Amerks to add to their lead five seconds later with a power-play goal from Polin. Polin's goal was deflected off Copley at the mouth of the net, with the primary assist by Caleb Jones and Matthew Peca credited with the secondary.

Ending the second period with the lead, Rochester tied Cleveland in shots on goal, 8-8.

The Amerks would maintain their 3-0 lead through the first thirteen minutes of the third period, pacing the Monsters in shots on goal 6-1. Cleveland's Oiva Keskinen would break the scoring drought with a goal at the 13:16 mark of the final frame. The lone Monsters goal was assisted by James Malatesta.

Amerks RW #14 Jason Polin celebrating after scoring on Nov. 4, 2026. (Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu/Rochester Americans)

Rochester would ice the game with 1:51 left as Polin scored an empty-netter to seal the win. With that goal, Polin notched his team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the season. Peca would collect his second assist of the night as the primary assist, with Dennis Gilbert as the secondary.

Villalta saved 23 of 24 shots on the night, good for a 0.958 save percentage. The Amerks killed off all four of Cleveland's power plays, adding to their current streak of 16 kills in a row. "I don't know how many, I don't wanna jinx it, but that's how many kills in a row," Leone commented. "There was a lot of sacrifice, and I thought in the second and third period, we did a really good job of keeping everything right in front of us, and I thought... it was a little bit more of a track meet. You know, we locked it down in the second and third, where we were above everything, and made it hard on them (Cleveland) to get through the neutral zone." Rochester now moves to 6-4-0-1 on the season and will welcome the Hartford Wolfpack on Friday, November 6th, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m.