The Bears completed their first series of the season on Sunday, finishing a one win, one loss stint against the Cleveland Monsters, a rematch of last year’s riveting Eastern Conference Finals series.

Like that series, the Monsters and Bears were neck and neck in their two meetings, which was prefaced with a banner raising ceremony on Saturday night, as Bears fans embraced their 13th championship banner entering the rafters at GIANT Center.

Both meetings between Cleveland and Hershey were high-scoring affairs, with a 7-3 win for the Bears on Saturday, followed by a 6-3 loss on Sunday evening.

Ethen Frank, Right Wing

Frank scored the team’s first hat trick of the season on Saturday’s win. The Bears were down 2-1 in the second period of Saturday night’s opener, and Frank scored the equalizer, sparking momentum in the period that included another Frank goal. The right wing scored again in the third, a hat trick with 14:20 remaining in an eventual 7-3 win over Cleveland. Frank added an assist to Miroshnichenko on Sunday.

Ivan Miroshnichenko, Left Wing

If you attended both Hershey Bears games over the weekend, chances are you lost both of your hats in the process. In a Bears 6-3 loss on Sunday, “Miro” scored all three Hershey goals, with one in the second period and two goals in the third. His third overall goal made Sunday’s game a 4-3 score, but Cleveland scored two more in the third to pull ahead in the 6-3 win.

Alex Limoges, Left Wing

Limoges played a huge undercover part of both games, especially Saturday’s win. He was in on assists to Ethen Frank, Ethan Bear and Luke Philip in the Bears’ win. Limoges was back at it on Sunday with an assist to Ivan Miroshnichenko, the first Bears goal of their loss on Sunday.

---

With just two games under their belt, the Bears sit in third place in the AHL Atlantic division standings.

After a 2-0 start, the Charlotte Checkers sit in first, trailed by the 1-1 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Bears visit the Bridgeport Islands on Wednesday, followed by another Saturday-Sunday home series, this time facing the Chicago Wolves.