After a perfect weekend on the road, the Nipissing Lakers women's hockey team suffered a setback in their home opener.

The Lakers fell 5-2 Friday evening to the visiting Ryerson Rams, who led from the get-go and sealed the game in the third period with three goals, including two into the empty-net.

The Rams scored the lone goal of the first period early on and led after 20 minutes.

The Lakers tied the game in the second when Jade Gauthier finished off a pretty passing play and made no mistake, taking the puck from backhand to forehand before shovelling it home.

Sam Strassburger and Brianna Gaffney picked up assists on the goal.

Ryerson regained the lead about five minutes later, but once again, the Lakers answered.

Down 2-1, Maria Dominico had three cracks from point-blank and finally tucked the puck into the back of the net to make it 2-2.

Strassburger picked up another helper, along with Gauthier, as both players finished with a pair of points in the loss.

After 40, with the score tied 2-2, the third period would decide the game and it was Ryerson who stepped up.

The Rams scored three times in the final 20 minutes, including two after the Lakers had pulled their goalie.

Ryerson outshot Nipissing 11-1 in the final frame and 24-15 overall.

Danika Ranger is tagged with the loss, finishing with 19 saves.

Up next, Nipissing will try to rebound when they host Toronto Saturday at 4:30pm at Memorial Gardens.