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COLUMBUS — Except for the final score, it was an upside-down kind of night at Value City Arena.

The Miami RedHawks and Ohio State Buckeyes, whose rivalry, it seemed, couldn't possibly get any tighter, played to a 4-4 tie in a Central Collegiate Hockey Association season series that now stands deadlocked at one win, one loss and two ties.

A tie between the RedHawks (17-8-2 overall, 12-5-2 CCHA) and Buckeyes (9-9-5, 7-6-4 CCHA) didn't surprise anyone.

So what did?

For one thing, Ohio State out-shot Miami 17-7 in the first period. The Buckeyes dominated the first period. They controlled the action. They controlled everything except the score, which at the end of the first period was Miami 3, Ohio State 1.

"I don't think we deserved to be down 3-1," Ohio State coach John Markell said, "but we were. They took care of their chances and we didn't."

For another, Miami junior Mitch Ganzak is one of the top defenders in the CCHA, but in his career he has scored about one goal every two and a half months. On Friday, Ganzak scored goals in back-to-back periods.

"I'm happy for him," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said of Ganzak, who now has six goals and 61 assists in his career. "When you go to the net, good things happen."

Double digits

When junior forward Nino Musitelli scored 5:50 into the first period to give Miami a 1-0 lead, he became the 11th RedHawk to accumulate at least 10 points this season. Musitelli later added an assist and has five goals and six assists for 11 points.

His goal was assisted by sophomore forward Justin Mercier (who finished with two assists and has nine points in his last eight games) and sophomore defender Ray Eichenlaub (who also had two assists and ranks among the team leaders with 13 this year).

Musitelli also had an assist on Ganzak's second goal, which gave Miami a 4-2 lead 6:24 into the second period.

After OSU's Mathieu Beadoin scored a short-handed goal late in the second period, the Buckeyes tied the score 10:04 into the third period on a goal by Matt Waddell.

Despite OSU's comeback, Blasi was anything but disheartened. "Anytime you're on the road and get a point, that's a positive sign," he said.

Nate the Skate

The two assists by Nathan Davis marked the 14th multi-point game this season for Miami's junior forward, but only his second in the last nine games.

Davis' 40 total points (16 goals, 24 assists) this season lead the RedHawks and rank second in the nation. Eric Ehn of Air Force was the nation's leading scorer with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) going into his team's game against Army later Friday night.

Brian Kaufman also had a goal for the RedHawks and Ryan Jones added an assist.

Looking ahead

The RedHawks and Buckeyes will face off for the fifth time this season, at Steve Cady Arena on Sunday. The puck will drop at 4:35 p.m.