AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's soccer player Ali Shawish (Lackwanna, N.Y./Lackawanna) has been named the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for games played October 3-10.  The announcement was made via the league's weekly report which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y.

Shawish, a 5-foot-7 freshman forward, becomes the first Daemen player to earn Rookie of the Week honors since the Wildcats joined the ECC back in 2013.  He's also the first Daemen player to garner any of the league's three weekly awards since former goalkeeper Matt Daddario (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week for September 22-28, 2014.

Shawish netted three goals and added an assist during Daemen's 6-1 win at Washington Adventist University last Friday, October 7.  Shawish led the offensive explosion which resulted in the Wildcats' most goals in a game since an 11-0 shellacking of Fisher College on October 29, 2011.  He became the first Daemen player to record a "hat trick" since Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) did so in a 3-1 road win at Cleary University on October 13, 2013.

The freshman phenom leads Daemen with six goals and 13 points this season.  The six markers are the most for a Daemen player since Clifford netted 10 and Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) notched seven, both during the 2013 season.

Shawish and the Wildcats are in action today at University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown before returning home for a pair of ECC games this weekend.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's soccer team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMSOC on Twitter.