Two valiant battles left the Ohio State men’s hockey team without a win against its archrival Michigan this weekend at the Schottenstein Center. But more important, the Buckeyes walked away from the two-game set without a loss. The two teams skated to ties in both contests.

“You could see the hunger in our guys,” OSU coach John Markell said. “Any time you come from two goals down, it feels like a win. We wanted to establish some good momentum going into the playoffs, and we played a good, aggressive game.”

OSU kicked off the series with Michigan on Friday. The Buckeyes had a rough start, allowing two Wolverine goals, but then ripped off four unanswered goals to leave the score 4-2.

OSU’s young guns posted the points. Freshman forward Rod Pelley scored the first two goals for the Buckeyes as traffic in front of Wolverine goalie Al Montoya acted as a screen for the pucks as they crossed the goal line.

Sophomore forward Lee Spector added a goal and an assist, his first multi-point game of his career, and his first goal since the season opener at Minnesota.

Rookie forward Ryan Kesler provided excitement on an odd sequence when he somehow put a puck past Montoya from what appeared to be an impossible angle. Kesler picked up the puck behind the net and as he turned the corner, he was almost parallel to the goaltender but tossed the puck on net, where it hit Montoya’s back and went in the goal.

Disappointment hit the Buckeyes later as Michigan rallied in the third period and tied the score with one second remaining on the clock. Stunned, the Buckeyes could not muster another goal, but the Wolverines could not either, and the game ended in a 4-4 tie.

“It’s tough, it’s a back-breaker with one second left,” Pelley said. “I don’t think it feels like a loss; we put forth a really good effort.”

With the first tie, OSU lost the second spot in the CCHA but needed just one point Saturday to clinch the third spot from a charging Michigan State squad.

On Saturday, forward R.J. Umberger scored the first goal of the game, his 23rd of the season, to put OSU up 1-0.

Once again, Michigan responded, scoring three unanswered goals to take the lead.

But OSU didn’t give up. The Buckeyes took back the momentum and rebounded with goals by forwards Paul Caponigri and Daymen Bencharski.

Bencharski’s goal was a rebound off an Umberger shot, which was drilled top shelf.

Controversy erupted later in the game as OSU seemingly scored another goal when Umberger went to the net, but the officials ruled Umberger had kicked the puck in off his skate.

“It hit the toe of my skate, and there is no way I could have directed it off my foot,” Umberger said.

The Buckeyes were dealt a bigger blow when Caponigri, on a routine skate through the neutral zone, had his knee taken out by Michigan’s Michael Woodford. Caponigri dropped to the ice, holding his knee in pain as he tried to crawl to the bench. Woodford was given a two-minute minor penalty.

At this point in the game, the crowd of 13,628 cheered as the Buckeyes came to life. Caponigri returned later in the game, where he and Woodford met up and received 10-minute misconduct penalties for their altercation.

“My emotions got the best of me there,” Caponigri said. “It was a big mistake on my part, but the guys played well in overtime.”

The extra frame left the game knotted at three, but Umberger had a chance to put one in as he dropped behind the Wolverine defense.

“Every Thursday, coach Ryan Kesler and I practice that type of play,” Umberger said. ” I typically put in about seven of 10. I guess that one was just three of those 10.”

The Buckeyes finished the season at 22-10-5, and OSU’s first-round opponent in the best-of-three series will be the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The teams split the season series, each winning both their home games. However, this time, the Buckeyes will call Nationwide Arena their home for the first two games of the series, as the Schott will be busy hosting the state high school girl’s basketball tournament.

If OSU wins the first two games at Nationwide, the Buckeye seniors will have played their last game at the Schott. In an odd twist, the seniors were recognized after the game on senior night because a pane of glass had to be replaced. A crack had to be repaired, and the Zamboni followed the repairs to keep the game on schedule.

“It’s kind of hard knowing this is the last game I’ll play here, but hopefully they’ll (fans) will come down to Nationwide to support us,” senior captain Scott Titus said.

The players applauded the crowd after the game.

“As long as they (fans) are as rowdy as they were tonight — it was so much fun,” Umberger said.

“When they started doing the O-H-I-O chant around, it was great,” Caponigri said. “I felt like I was at a football game. I’ve experienced that, and it was nice to get a taste of that.”