The Brock men's hockey team lost their first game after returning to the ice from the holiday break.

The Badgers fell 3-1 to the visiting Ryerson Rams at Seymour-Hannah Arena on Jan. 2.

"Lots of rust," said head coach Marty Williamson. "We struggled to make scoring plays. I thought we worked hard, but we needed to finish."

Steven Harland scored an unassisted goal to open the scoring and Mathew Santos capitalized on the power play to give Ryerson a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

Jared Marino put Brock on the board midway through the game as Cole Thiessen and newcomer Jordan Maletta each registered an assist.

Ryerson struck again with the man advantage to seal the deal when Matt Mistele found the back of the net in the third.

Goaltender Mario Culina made his debut in between the pipes for the Badgers. He faced 25 shots.

For the Rams, goalie Garrett Forrest made 31 saves Mistele, Gregory DiTomaso, Patrick Fellows and Aaron Hyman each chipped in an assist.

Up next, the Badgers (10-7-1-0) visit the No. 4 Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m.