The last time the Ohio State hockey team went through this level of futility, the Buckeyes broke an 11-game winless streak at Western Michigan.

On Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich., history repeated itself as struggling OSU finally broke through and earned a victory, dumping No. 18 Western by a score of 4-3.

No. 15 OSU had to rally for the win as Alex Carlson scored twice in the final 5:24 of the third period to flip the score in the Buckeyes’ favor. They improved to 15-11-5 overall and 11-10-5-1 in the CCHA. WMU fell to 15-12-5, 12-9-3-3 in the CCHA.  

The Buckeyes led 2-0 midway through the first period on power-play goals by freshmen Max McCormick and Ryan Dzingel 1:09 apart. The Broncos then scored the next three goals, beginning with a tally from Chase Balisy at 17:58 of the first. Neither team scored in the second period and Ohio State carried its 2-1 lead into the third period.

In the third, Western Michigan scored twice in less than a minute for a 3-2 lead at 8:31 of the stanza. At 14:36 Carlson scored on the power play and he notched the game winner at 16:31, assisted by Alex Lippincott. McCormick and Dzingel both had a goal and an assist, while freshman defenseman Ben Gallacher had two assists.

Ohio State outshot the Broncos, 30-24, in the game. Cal Heeter played 59:51 and had 21 saves in the Buckeye net.

Ohio State was 3 for 5 on the power play and held the Broncos to one goal on four chances.

The Buckeyes have a bye next weekend (Feb. 18-19) before wrapping up the regular season with a home-and-home series against Miami Feb. 24-25. The teams will meet in Oxford, Ohio, in game one, with the matchup televised by CBS Sports. Game two will be in Value City Arena in Columbus; Ohio State’s seniors will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.