The 2015 OUA soccer season is officially underway and the Nipissing Lakers begin on the road, facing UOIT Ridcgebacks and Trent Excalibur this weekend.

The team kicked off their respective seasons Saturday against the Ridgebacks with the women falling and the men earning a draw.

Tough Start for Women's Soccer
There's absolutely no need to panic after just one game, but the season did not start the way the Nipissing Lakers women's soccer team would have liked.

The Lakers were on the road for the beginning of the 2015 campaign and were shutout at the hands of the UOIT Ridgebacks, losing 6-0 in Oshawa.

The teams were even through the first 23 minutes of the match before the Ridgebacks broke the deadlock, as Cassandra Sribny scored the first of her three on the day.

Shynice Williams would score twice more in the next 10 minutes to end the first half with a 3-0 lead.

Sribny would add two more in the second half, including her hat-trick goal in the 90^th minute and Williams would cap off her hat-trick in the 81st minute.

Sribny and Williams combined for all six goals and each added an assist as well to pace the Ridgebacks.

Andrea Young and Kristen Farkas led the Lakers attack with two shots each, while Carlee Bennard got the start in net, but took the loss making a total of 11 saves.

The Lakers will look to rebound tomorrow when they face the Trent Excalibur, a team Nipissing defeated twice last season.

Game time is set for noon in Peterborough.


Late goal earns Men's Soccer a draw
Better late than never for the Nipissing Lakers men's soccer team.

It took over an hour, but the Lakers and UOIT Ridgebacks finished their season openers with some excitement Saturday afternoon in Oshawa.

The teams ended locked up in a 1-1 draw after an exciting final 26 minutes of play.

After playing 74 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Ridgebacks scored the opening goal of the season and one they had hoped and thought would be enough to earn the win, but the Lakers refused to give in.

Defender Connor Speers scored a goal in the 90 th minute to draw even with UOIT and give both teams a point.

Erik Petrovic opened up the scoring for the Ridgebacks and gave them a 1-0 lead that lasted just over 15 minutes before the Lakers tied the game.

These same two teams tied 1-1 in their first meeting last season in a very similar way.

Last year it was Petrovic that opened the scoring and Mathieu Simard tied the game late, this time is was Speers who played the savior for the Lakers, who grab one point.

The Lakers have high expectations for this season and while it's not the full three points, earning a single point in their opener on the road is far from a bad start.

Nipissing will look to make it a successful weekend when they travel to Peterborough tomorrow to take on the Trent Excalibur.

The Lakers were 1-0-1 against Trent last year.

Game time is set for 2:15 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.