The 10th-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team was on track last night to end its longest winless streak in more than four years.

OSU scored twice in the first 4:19 against Michigan State before 4,450 at Value City Arena and led 3-1 after the first 20 minutes.

But the lead disintegrated with a three-goal second period by the Spartans, who added two more in the third for a 6-3 victory.

OSU has gone nine games without a victory (0-5-4), its longest winless streak since an 11-game slide (0-10-1) from Oct. 19-Nov. 23, 2007. OSU (14-9-5, 10-8-5-1, 36 points) dropped into a tie for third in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, three points behind first-place Western Michigan.

Alex Lippincott gave OSU a 1-0 lead 58 seconds into the game, and Max McCormick made it 2-0 at 4:19. Michigan State (14-11-4, 9-9-3-2, 33 points) cut its deficit to 2-1, but Ryan Dzingel restored the Buckeyes’ two-goal lead at 17:12.

But Michigan State scored three times on just nine shots in the second period to chase OSU goalie Brady Hjelle. Cal Heeter relieved at the start of the third and allowed a goal. Michigan State got an empty-netter for the final goal.

The Buckeyes had a 44-34 edge in shots, but went 0 of 6 on the power play.

The teams will conclude the two-game series tonight.

Wrestling

Luke Fickell brought some good luck to the sixth-ranked Ohio State wrestling team last night at St. John Arena. And a crowd of 5,012 didn’t hurt, either.

Fickell, defensive coordinator of the OSU football team, was the wrestling team’s honorary coach, and he witnessed a 24-13 victory over 12th-ranked Michigan (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten).

“When you put that many people in St. John Arena, I don’t know how you can’t be passionate,” OSU coach Tom Ryan said. “They make a difference.”

Andrew Campolattano (197 pounds) led the way for the Buckeyes (10-3, 4-3) when he pinned Chris Herald in 18 seconds, the fourth-fastest pin in school history. The Buckeyes also got victories by Johnni Dijulius (125 pounds), Logan Stieber (133), Josh Demas (157), Nick Heflin (174) and C.J. Magnum (184).

Ohio State concludes the regular season at Michigan State on Sunday afternoon.