The Cleveland Monsters beat the Syracuse Crunch 2-1 in triple overtime on Sunday afternoon at Upstate Medical University Arena. With the overtime win, the Monsters take the best-of-five North Division Semifinals, presented by truenorth Convenience Stores, 3-1 and advance to the North Division Finals presented by Ten10.

Syracuse’s Matteo Pietroniro scored the lone goal of the first period at 6:21 to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead. Cleveland’s Luca Marrelli put the Monsters on the board at 14:15 of the middle frame off feeds from Justin Pearson and Jack Williams to make it an even 1-1 through 40 minutes. Following a scoreless third period and two scoreless overtime periods, Cleveland’s Zach Aston-Reese notched the game-winning goal in the third overtime period with helpers from Brendan Gaunce and Marrelli, giving the Monsters the 2-1 victory and advancing them into the North Division Finals. 

Cleveland’s Zach Sawchenko stopped 46 shots for the win while Syracuse’s Brandon Halverson made 56 saves in the loss. 

The Monsters will face the winner of the ongoing Division Semifinals series between the Laval Rocket and the Toronto Marlies in the best-of-five North Division Finals presented by Ten10 beginning with Game 1 on Thursday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena. Game 2 will be Saturday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena. The full series schedule, including potential additional home game dates, will be announced when the Monsters Division Finals opponent is determined.

Single game tickets for Games 1 and 2 of the North Division Finals presented by Ten10 are ON SALE NOW at clevelandmonsters.com/playoffs.

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GAME SHEET – GAME PHOTOS – GAME HIGHLIGHTS*

*Game highlights will appear as soon as possible following video processing.