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Fire Burn Through Nationals Field to Capture Title

By Scott Alan Salomon, 04/10/17, 2:15PM MDT

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Atlanta puts up impressive Tier II 14U tournament performance

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- The Atlanta Fire defeated the New Hampshire Avalanche 6-4 Monday morning to win the 2A title at the 2017 USA Hockey Youth Tier II 14U National Championships.

New Hampshire drew first blood as William O’Keefe scored from the left crease and put it in the left-hand corner of the net. O’Keefe came into the crease untouched and stood there by himself as he poked the puck into the net.

Atlanta scored two goals two minutes later to take a 2-1 lead. The second goal was scored by Riley Frost from the outside circle.

New Hampshire could have tied it up before the end of the first period, but a two-on-one breakaway was saved by goalie Cam Courtney at point blank range.

Zachary Mooers tied it up for the Avalanche at the 12:12 mark of the second period. He went lower left hand corner with the puck and tied the game up at 2.

The tie did not last long as Miles Harrington took a shot from the point and put the Fire up 3-2.

The Avalanche tied it up at 3 apiece with 6:53 to play in the period as Nicholas Plaza scored on a long shot that he put past the goalie Courtney, who was out of position on the play.

Nathan Glencross put the Avalanche in the lead 4-3 less than a minute into the third period. His shot from the circle found the lower corner of the net for New Hampshire. It was a power-play goal.

Atlanta scored two more goals in the next two minutes to take a 5-4 lead.  Nathan Korowin scored from the middle of the crease to give the Fire the lead for good.

The Fire had just one loss in the national tournament, a 4-1 defeat to HCF-Alaska Grizzlies on Saturday. Otherwise it was an impressive performance as Atlanta racked up 30 goals against 17 allowed.

Atlanta opened the tournament with two wins, a 5-2 victory over Team North Dakota followed by a 9-2 rout of the Maine Moose. Then came the loss to HCF-Alaska. But Atlanta rebounded nicely to defeat the Jr. Coyotes Scottsdale in the quarterfinals.

The Fire made it to the final through a hard-fought semifinal win against the Utah Golden Eagles. Utah put up four goals in the first period to get out to a commanding lead. But Atlanta came back with three in the second, one in the third and finally tallied the game-winner in overtime.

The Fire’s Michael Bourgeois and Miles Harrington led the tournament in goals scored. Harrington also led in assists and total points.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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2017 USA Hockey National Championship Sites

Division Location Host Dates
Youth Tier I (14U) Scottsdale, Arizona Arizona Amateur Hockey April 6-10, 2017
Youth Tier I (15-year-olds only) Scottsdale, Arizona Arizona Amateur Hockey April 6-10, 2017
Youth Tier I (16U, 18U) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Penguins Elite April 6-10, 2017
Girls Tier I Rochester/Macomb, Michigan HoneyBaked Hockey Club April 6-10, 2017
Women's A, B, C Rochester/Macomb, Michigan HoneyBaked Hockey Club April 6-9, 2017
High School Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Suburban Hockey March 22-26, 2017
Girls Tier II Troy, Michigan Troy Youth Hockey Association April 6-10, 2017
Youth Tier II (14U) Coral Springs, Florida Florida Panthers Ice Den April 6-10, 2017
Youth Tier II (16U) Frisco, Texas Texas Amateur Hockey April 6-10, 2017
Youth Tier II (18U) Lansing, Michigan Lansing Hockey Club April 6-10, 2017
Sled San Jose, California Sharks Ice April 6-9, 2017
Adult Rec Men's Wesley Chapel, Florida Florida Hospital Center Ice April 20-23, 2017
Adult Rec Women's Ellenton, Florida Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex April 27-30, 2017