Ohio State entered its weekend series against Lake Superior State winless in its last six games, and the streak remains alive.

The No. 6-ranked Buckeyes winless streak increased to eight games this weekend after a 1-0 loss and 4-4 tie to Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. OSU (14-8-5, 10-7-5-1 CCHA), is now 0-4-4 in the games they have played this calendar year following a two-game series against the Lakers (14-11-5, 9-9-4-4 CCHA).

The Buckeyes struggled to score in Friday night’s shutout loss, but the offense came alive Saturday. OSU freshman forward Max McCormick had his first-career hat trick and freshman forward Tanner Fritz tallied three assists, but it wasn’t enough to snap the winless streak. The Lakers answered each of OSU’s four goals, and went on to win the shootout Saturday night, 2-1, following a scoreless overtime to gain an extra point in the CCHA standings.

OSU got things going early Saturday and after 20 minutes, the Buckeyes led, 2-1, thanks to two McCormick goals.

The first-period lead was the first for the Buckeyes since December .

Lake Superior came out firing in the second period, scoring twice in the first 6:31 of the middle stanza to take a 3-2 lead. Both goals were scored on the power play.

The Buckeyes did not take long to respond.

McCormick scored for the third time less than four minutes later to tie the game, 3-3, with 9:42 remaining in the second. OSU freshman defenseman Al McLean tallied at 11:54 to give the Buckeyes a 4-3 lead heading into the final period.

Lake Superior had another answer, however, with a goal at 9:45 in the third period to tie the game, 4-4, which sent the game into overtime after both teams failed to score in the final 10:15.

In overtime, OSU had its chances, including a 5-on-3 power play for 1:50, but the Lakers held strong on defense, stopping all four of the Buckeyes’ shots in the extra session.

OSU senior goalie Cal Heeter had three saves in overtime, adding to his game total of 33.

In the shootout, neither team scored in the first round, but both tallied in the second. In the third round, Fritz’s shot was stopped and the Lakers put one past Heeter to get the shootout win and extra point.

The Buckeyes will take the ice again with a two-game series against Michigan State, starting at 7:05 p.m. on Friday in Columbus at the Schottenstein Center.