Scott Baird scored the first goal of the season in the 2nd minute to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. Vermont evened the odds when Rob Hudson scored a man-up goal, assisted by Braiden Davis. The Catamounts added another when Liam Rischmann scored with just over five minutes remaining in the first period of play. Patrick Marks forced Vermont to come up with a big save with just under a minute to play in the first quarter but was denied as the period ended 2-1, Vermont. Vermont stretched to a 4-1 lead over the course of the second period. The Catamounts out-shot the Bears 8 to 4 in the period and entered the locker room with a three goal lead at the break. The Catamounts added yet another in the 2nd minute of the second half to extend to a 5-1 lead. Mercer quickly responded when Matt Quinn fired one in, as Bryan Gibson earned his second assist of the day. Rob Hudson scored his second goal of the day in the 9th minute of the third period of play as Vermont lengthened to a 6-2 advantage. The Bears came out with a quick goal to start the 4th period with Matt Hughes going coast to coast after Mercer won the opening faceoff, to cut the score to 6-3. Vermont's explosive offense proved to be too much as they added another five goals in the fourth period to claim an 11-3 victory. NOTABLES Bryan Gibson provided two assists on the Bears' three goals. Mercer's goalkeeper Bradley Hodoval provided eight saves on the afternoon. Mercer was 11-18 on faceoffs and 13 -18 on clears. Scott Baird led the team in shots with eight. Kiel Brennan led the team in ground balls with five. Brennan took the majority of the faceoffs for the Bears and was 10-16 on the day. RECORDS UPDATE Mercer: 0-1, 0-0 SoCon Vermont: 2-0, 0-0 America East UP NEXT The Bears will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 10, as they play host to Lehigh at Five Star Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.