First Posted: 7/28/2010
Joseph Donahue, 10, of Clarks Summit, played in the Gatorade AAA Hockey Summer Challenge over the June 18 to 20 weekend in Sewell, N.J.
Donahue is a member of the 2000 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Junior Knights, the first Tier 1 AAA hockey team in our area. The team was formed this spring and has hopes for their 2010-2011 season. Tier 1 AAA hockey is the highest level available to youths in the United States.
The Pepsi-sponsored tournament brought together AAA hockey clubs in the United States and Canada for a weekend of exciting competition.
The Junior Knights started out Friday by shutting out the Washington All-Stars 8-0, then defeating the Sound Shore Selects 7-1.
On Saturday, the Junior Knights lost to a strong Philadelphia Little Flyers team but bounced back later that evening by defeating DHI Octane 5-3. This win advanced them to the semifinals.
On Sunday, the Junior Knights defeated the Pond Predators, the number one seed in the Red Division, and then moved onto the Championship game. This was against the Philadelphia team, and they lost 7-2.
Donahue, an Our Lady of Peace sixth grader, played defense. He had eight assists in the tournament and helped the team with numerous 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 penalty kills.
This was an impressive first time out for the new team, which is made up of eight players from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and eight players from the Binghamton area.