With the CCHA regular season winding down, the No. 14 Ohio State men’s ice hockey team found themselves in a must-win situation coming into two home games this weekend against the University of Omaha-Nebraska.

Thanks to one standout line and some solid goaltending, the Buckeyes swept the Mavericks by winning 3-1 Friday evening and 4-3 Saturday evening.

With the victories, OSU moves to 19-13 on the season and 14-10 in the CCHA.

OSU has juggled lines all season in an attempt to rustle up more offense and seems to have finally found at least one winning combination.

In the 6-0 win against Ferris State on Feb. 7, senior forward Scott May, sophomore forward Dan Knapp and freshman forward Andrew Schembri were placed on the same line. In three games, the line has combined for 11 goals and 10 assists and the Buckeyes have gone 3-0.

“I think we’ve finally found something that works,” May said of the line. “I don’t know why it took us four years.”

Friday night it was Schembri who got the Buckeyes rolling early. The forward had two goals in the first nine minutes of play, giving OSU a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish. Knapp, who assisted on Schembri’s second goal, scored the other goal for the Buckeyes. May assisted on both of Schembri’s goals as well.

“We like to see him shoot the puck,” Knapp said of Schembri. “He’s a scorer.”

Saturday was no different, as Schembri got OSU rolling early.

After a Nebraska-Omaha penalty a mere six seconds into the game, Schembri scored 28 seconds into the opening stanza on assists from Knapp and May. The Buckeyes scored three goals on their first seven shots and chased freshman goalie Kris Tebbs from the game.

“Kris wasn’t on his game, and we had to stop the bleeding,” UNO coach Mike Kemp said of pulling the goalie.

First-period goals from May and Knapp gave the Buckeyes a lead that goaltender Dave Caruso would protect for the rest of the game. The sophomore phenom is making the most of an opportunity to play after senior goalie Mike Betz got a night off. Caruso shut out the Ferris State Bulldogs on Feb. 7, then allowed only one goal Friday against the Mavericks.

“He played solid and only had one mistake,” coach John Markell said of Caruso on Friday. “He was there when we needed him.”

The allowed goal stopped his shutout streak at 142:04. Caruso also earned the victory Saturday night, giving him three wins in a row and a 6-1 record on the season.

The biggest story of the weekend was that OSU did not stumble despite UNO’s every effort to scratch out a road win. The Mavericks totaled 62 penalty minutes in the loss, including having three players ejected.

“You just have to stay focused,” May said. “When you’re ahead you don’t notice the checking and grabbing.”