PITTSTON, Pa. -- Elmira College men's ice hockey collected its first win of the 2019-20 campaign this evening by opening United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action with a convincing 7-1 road victory over King's College (Pa.). It marked the second consecutive season the Soaring Eagles (1-1-1, 1-0-0 UCHC) have opened conference play with a win, while the Monarchs (0-2-0, 0-2-0 UCHC) remain in search of their first win of the season.
 
Highlighting tonight's win was senior winger Matthew Cuce '20, who became the 52nd skater in Elmira's 47-year history to join the prestigious 100-point club. Cuce had a hand in three of EC's first four goals, assisting on the first two and scoring the fourth. His assist on Elmira's second goal went into the books officially as his 100th career point.
 
The Fort Myers, Florida, native joins fellow classmates Connor Powell '20 and Nick Ford '20 in the 100-point club. Cuce, Powell and Ford become the first trio of 100-point club members in the same class since Mike Clarke '03, Jason Silverthorn '03 and Dean Jackson '03 of the Class of 2003.
 
Elmira controlled tonight's contest with a heavy dose of offense. The Soaring Eagles held a sizeable advantage in shots on goal, 62-23, and won 50-of-82 faceoffs. Additionally, Elmira went 4-for-8 on power-play chances, while the Monarchs ended the game 1-for-8.
 
Elmira only needed 21 seconds to take the lead in tonight's matchup. Precision passing and speed produced the goal, as EC showcased how lethal it can be in breakout situations.
 
The scoring play began with Cuce, who dished the puck from along the boards in Elmira's d-zone to Spencer MacLean '20 at center ice. From there, MacLean one-touched a pass that split a pair of Monarch defenders and found Powell, who raced into the offensive zone unmarked. Powell glided towards the net before beating Brandon Daigle stick-side for the game-opening goal.
 
Elmira doubled its lead at 3:31 on a power-play goal from Anthony Parrucci '20, his first of the season. Parrucci's tally was a result of good positioning and even better timing. Cuce setup the goal by skating around the zone, before snapping a low-lining wrist shot on cage. Daigle padded the shot away but Parrucci, who was camped out by the mouth of the goal, was there to punch in the rebound.
 
With the first period drawing to a close, Elmira's Patrick Schmelzinger '20 cushioned the lead with his first tally of the 2019-20 campaign. Rookie Graham Denomme '23 began the scoring play with a cross-ice pass to Nick Grinvalds '22, who fired a shot from the blue line. Schmelzinger screened the goalie on the shot, before redirecting it into the back of the cage for the goal.
 
Cuce continued to torment the King's defense by producing his third point, and Elmira's fourth goal, of the evening. On a 5-on-3 power play, a pass from Parrucci at the point found Powell on the right post, where several defensemen collapsed onto the senior standout. Powell's vision and quick mitts saw him cross the puck to the left post, where Cuce was left uncovered. Cuce one-timed the shot from point-blank-range and into the open net for the goal.
 
The Monarchs trimmed the Elmira lead to 4-1 at the 14:26 mark, as Jack O'Neil scored on the power play. However, the Soaring Eagles answered with a special-teams goal of their own less than five minutes later to reclaim a four-goal lead.
 
Elmira cashed in once again on the power play at 18:55, as MacLean registered his first goal of the season. With the power play coming to a close, Matthew Cousino '22 fired a slap shot from the point that was initially saved. However, the puck wasn't covered and several EC skaters jabbed at the puck. Pucci got a stick on the puck, before MacLean was able to get his blade on it and bury the shot to give the Purple and Gold a 5-1 advantage.
 
Alex Gagnon '23 got into the scoring mix in the third period, as the rookie scored his first collegiate goal to put the Purple and Gold on top by a five-goal margin, 6-1. Andrew Pucci '20 caused a turnover in the neutral zone, which allowed Marty Kapoian '22 to collect the puck and dump it to Gagnon, who raced into the offensive zone. Gagnon slipped a shot from the right faceoff dot past an unsuspecting Daigle for the goal.
 
Elmira's efficiency on the power play continued with another extra-skater goal at 11:17. After working the puck around the umbrella, Ford snapped a wrist shot towards the slot, where Parrucci was camped out. Parrucci tipped the shot into the right side of the net to give the Elmira men a 7-1 advantage. Christian Lloyd '20, along with Ford, was credited with an assist on the goal.
 
In His Own Words
Head Coach Aaron Saul '98 shares his thoughts on tonight's win…
"It's always important to get points on the road, especially in league play. I'm extremely happy for Cuce to be in the 100-point club. It is well deserved for all of the hard work that he puts in. To have three guys in the 100-point club proves how important recruiting is and former assistant coach Tim Crowley did an outstanding job recruiting all three of them."
 
News and Notes

• Elmira logged its first win and conference victory of the season.
• EC has produced UCHC-opening wins in back-to-back seasons.
• With three points tonight, Cuce recorded his 100th career point.
• Cuce became the 52nd player in program history to join the 100-point club.
• The Class of 2020 is the first to place three skaters in the 100-point club since the Class of 2003.
• Parrucci registered career highs in points (3) and goals (2).
• Cuce recorded the sixth three-point game of his career.
• MacLean, Parrucci, Powell and Schmelzinger all logged their first goals of the season.
• Ford and Lloyd extended their point streaks to three games.
• Denomme produced his first career assist.
• Gagnon scored his first career goal.
• Grinvalds, Cousino and Kapoian all registered their first assists of the season.
• Chris Janzen '21 made 22 saves en route to earning his first career win.

Up Next
The Elmira men return to action tomorrow afternoon, when they travel to take on Wilkes University in UCHC action. The opening puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.