FOXBORO – They are amongst the furthest traveled to attend New England Pro-Am Hockey’s 2015 Midget Fall Classic, but the Atlanta Knights have made the most of their journey thus far in the tournament’s early going. They opened their U16 Division slate with a 6-2 victory over the South Shore Kings on Saturday at Foxboro Sports Center.
The Knights got off to a hot start, netting a pair early in the first for a 2-0 advantage just 6:25 in. The game then settled, those early tallies from Michael Cooprider and Dima Arkhipov standing as the only scored before intermission, but Atlanta picked back up again early in the second half, Dawson Jones upping the advantage to 3-0 at 5:44.
South Shore showed signs of life near the midpoint of the second half. After Drew Amsler scored at 14:55 to make it 4-0 Atlanta, Billy Shea broke through off the ensuing faceoff to get the locals on the board. Henry Bruckner then cut the deficit to 4-2 just a few minutes later with a goal at 16:23, but that was as much of a rally as the Kings could muster. The Knights converted twice more late in the half to seal the 6-2 victory.
Matt Sayles was credited with 15 saves in the win for Atlanta.