This past Wednesday, the Belleville Senators played their final October game which resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Rochester Americans. It was then time to play the first November game against the Syracuse Crunch.
Belleville dropped its first game against Syracuse 5-3 on Oct. 19 at CAA Arena. In the second meeting in New York, Belleville would get some revenge.
Belleville defeated Syracuse 7-4 at Upstate Medical University Arena. With the win, Belleville improved to 4-4-1-0 on the season.
Like last time the two teams played nearly two weeks ago in Belleville, Leevi Merilainen was loaned down and would get the start against Syracuse. Merilainen stood tall to make 38 bisaves.
In the first period, Merilainen shrug off an early Syracuse goal less than 5.5 minutes into the game to finish the period with 15 saves. After Syracuse scored first, Arthur Kalyev and Wyatt Bongiovanni each scored a goal in a span of 3:45 to give Belleville a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Carter Yakemchuk recorded an assist on both of Belleville's first period goals.
Jakob Pelletier scored for Syracuse 1:18 into the second period to tie the game. Then in a span of 2:41, Bongiovanni and Xavier Bourgault each scored a goal to give Belleville a 4-2 lead under five minutes into the second period. Unfortunately for Belleville, Nick Abruzzese scored 1:13 later after Bourgault's goal to make it a one-goal game again. Belleville killed off two penalties following Bruzzese's goal to keep a 4-3 lead heading into the second intermission.
Just 2:36 into the third period, Boris Katchouk tied the game at four for Syracuse. However, Lassi Thomson scored just over 2.5 minutes later to regain the lead for Belleville. Jorian Donovan and Hayden Hodgson then iced the game empty-net goals.
With his two goals, Bongiovanni now leads Belleville with five goals on the season. Once again, Bongiovanni is always ready to score goals and is off to another hot start.
Wyatt Bongiovanni after Belleville's 7-4 win vs Syracuse pic.twitter.com/04u0YkVu8S
— Jake Ferraro (@18Jxxx18) November 2, 2025
"I work on my shot a lot," Bongiovanni said after the win. "So, it's something I think is a strength of mine."
Belleville will have time to rest for its next game which won't be until Friday when they travel Adirondack Bank Center to take on the Utica Comets with a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. Friday will be the start of a back-to-back-to-back.