ECAC West Release
 
DANBURY, Conn. -- Rookie forward Matthew Cuce '20 was honored for his outstanding play in Elmira College men's ice hockey's 3-0-0 week by being named the ECAC West Conference Rookie of the Week. The weekly conference award is the first for the Elmira men this season.
 
Cuce began the week with a two-assist night in Elmira's 6-4 road win over SUNY Potsdam, earning assists on Elmira's first and third tallies. He followed that performance with another assist in EC's 4-1 comeback win over Nichols College on Saturday, earning the secondary assist on the eventual game-winning goal.
 
As impressive as Cuce was in the previous two games, it was nothing compared to what the Fort Myers, Florida, native accomplished in Sunday's 7-4 victory against the Bison. The freshman winger had a hand in five of Elmira's seven goals, assisting on three tallies, while scoring two of his own.
 
He earned assists on Elmira's first two goals of the game and another on EC's sixth tally. Both of Cuce's goals came on special teams, as his first of the night was scored shorthanded while his second and eventual game-winning goal was registered on a 5-on-3 Elmira power play. Cuce became the first player since Josh Burnell '14 to score a power-play and shorthanded goal in the same game, an accomplishment Burnell did during his final season with Elmira on January 24, 2014.
 
Cuce's five-point effort was the first of its kind by an Elmira skater since 2011 when former AHCA All-American Kevin Willer '12 logged five against Manhattanville (4g, 1a). Additionally, Cuce became the first EC rookie skater to total five points since former four-time ECAC West All-Conference honoree Rusty Masters '10 did so during his debut season in 2006-07 (2g, 3a).
 
The monster weekend from Cuce has moved the freshman talent up several spots on the conference and national leaderboards. He ranks first in the ECAC West in freshmen scoring with a 1.27 points per game average, a mark that stacks up as the eighth-best per-game average in NCAA Division III men's ice hockey. Additionally, his 14 points this season are the second-most in the country by a rookie skater.
 
Cuce and the Elmira men are back in action next Saturday, December 10th, when the Soaring Eagles welcome 14th-ranked Trinity College (Conn.) to the Murray Athletic Center. Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.