After an influx of new recruits, a new mindset and new hope, the Nipissing Lakers men's soccer team didn't get off to the start they wanted to on the road.

The Lakers dropped a pair of games, losing to the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday and the Ryerson Rams on Sunday in Toronto.

Saturday, the Lakers played a strong Blues squad very well, but fell a goal short.

Toronto would open the scoring just before the halftime whistle, taking the lead at the 40-minute mark.

Neither team would find the back of the net until late in the game when the teams traded goals.

Andy Bago tied the game up at one with a goal in the 81st minute, but Toronto replied almost immediately, regaining their one goal cushion.

From there, they held on and earned the full three points, handing Nipissing a loss in their season opener.

The Blues outshot the Lakers 12-5, as Achuthan Shanmugaratnam was very strong in net, keeping the Lakers in the game early and giving them a chance to win in the end.

On Sunday, Nipissing struggled to keep pace with a strong Ryerson Rams team, as the Lakers fell 4-0 to wrap up the opening weekend of the year.

Ryerson scored twice in the first 15 minutes, added another before the half-hour mark and capped off the scoring in the 90th minute with their fourth tally of the game.

Nicholas Cirullo was tagged with the loss, playing the full 90 minutes, facing a total of 13 shots.

Nipissing came up short to begin the season and will look to grab some points as they remain on the road, heading to Kingston to take om RMC Saturday and Queens on Sunday.