ELMIRA, N.Y. -- First-year forward Matthew Cuce '20 of the men's ice hockey team and second-year post player Rachel Vespucci '19 of the women's basketball team have been crowned the Elmira College Athletes of the Week for the week ending November 27th.

Cuce played an integral role in Elmira's perfect 3-0-0 week, as the Soaring Eagles topped SUNY Potsdam on the road on November 22nd and swept Nichols College in a weekend series at the Murray Athletic Center. He recorded team highs with eight points and six assists, while tallying a power-play game-winner and scoring once a man down.

The Fort Myers, Florida, native began his electrifying week with a pair of helpers against the Bears. Cuce then produced six of his eight points in the two-game set with Nichols with two goals and four assists.

In Saturday's 4-1 victory, he assisted on the eventual game-winner, netted by classmate Connor Powell '20. Sunday marked the brightest performance of his young career, as he turned in a near-historic outing with five points on two goals and three assists in the 7-4 triumph over the Bison. He scored once shorthanded and once on the power play, with the latter going down as the game-winning goal.

The five-point output marked the first for the Soaring Eagles since former All-American Kevin Willer '12 did so against Manhattanville in 2011 (4g, 1a). He also became the first freshman to score five points in a game since Rusty Masters '10 posted five points (2g, 3a) against Lebanon Valley in 2007. Additionally, Cuce is the first Soaring Eagle to score a power-play and shorthanded goal in the same game since Josh Burnell on January 24, 2014.

Following his high-scoring weekend, Cuce leads the team with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists. The Floridian also ranks second in all of Division III in points by a freshman and eighth on a points per game basis with 1.27.

Elmira men's ice hockey will look to continue its current unbeaten streak in its last game of the 2016 calendar year, as the Purple and Gold host No. 14 Trinity College (Conn.) at the MAC on Saturday, December 10th, at 5:00 p.m.

Not to be outshone, Vespucci had the best week of her career for the women's basketball team, as she collected the first two double-doubles of her collegiate career in Elmira's contests against Shenandoah and Gallaudet. The sophomore forward averaged a whopping 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 assists in the two-game span, while shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.

In the midweek bout at Shenandoah, the product of Macedon, New York, set new career highs with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Her effort crashing the boards helped the Soaring Eagles register a season-high 47 rebounds and out-rebound the Hornets by a wide 47-to-32 margin.

In Sunday's 82-59 victory over Gallaudet in Elmira's home opener at Speidel Gymnasium, Vespucci tied her career best with a second consecutive 18-point performance. In addition, she hauled in another 10 rebounds to complete her second straight double-double. In the second quarter, she broke a 13-13 tie to give EC a lead it would never relinquish and helped the Soaring Eagles pull away with six of the team's first eight points of the period. She went on a tear in the third quarter as well; in a one-and-a-half minute span from 5:12 to 3:43, she scored seven points, hauled in an offensive rebound that resulted in an and-one, and then stripped a Bison player and earned the assist on the ensuing layup by Emily Green '18.

On the season, the Our Lady of Mercy grad paces Elmira and ranks 10th in the Empire 8 Conference with 7.8 rebounds per game. Vespucci also climbed into second place on the team in scoring with an average of 12.0 points per contest.

The Elmira women return to the home hardwood on Tuesday, November 29th, when the Soaring Eagles welcome Pennsylvania College of Technology to the friendly confines of Speidel Gymnasium. Tip-off time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.