SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Lake Superior State held on to defeat the Northern Michigan hockey team, 3-1, and take a 2-1 lead in the 2015-16 Cappo Cup series Friday night at Taffy Abel Arena.

Dominik Shine's team-leading 14th goal of the year pulled the Wildcats within one in the final seconds of the second period, but they couldn't complete the comeback. Gordon Defiel made 27 saves to outduel Mathias Dahlstrom, who turned aside 28 of 30 Laker shots.

With less than four minutes remaining in the opening frame, Shine nearly gave Northern Michigan the lead while shorthanded. On the rush after a draw win, Darren Nowick carried the puck wide and then sent a backhanded pass to Shine on the right edge of the crease, but Defiel came up with the pad save.

Less than a minute after that Lake Superior State power play expired, at the 18:09 mark, Bryce Schmitt tipped a Ryan Renz point shot past Dahlstrom, who made 15 saves in the first period alone, to put his team ahead on the scoreboard.

The Lakers extended their lead to 2-0 at 3:35 of the middle frame on their second power play opportunity. Owen Headrick sent a cross-ice feed to Jake Hand in the middle of the left circle, and Hand fired the puck over Dahlstrom's left shoulder.

The Wildcats generated most of the second period's quality scoring chances, outshooting Lake Superior State, 17-10, but Defiel was up for the test. With less than 10 minutes on the clock, he got across the crease just in time to rob Sami Salminen on the doorstep.

In the period's dying minutes, Northern Michigan's top line peppered Defiel with three shots after an offensive zone draw win by Nowick. When Lake Superior State finally managed to breakout, the Wildcats regained possession in the neutral zone and charged back the other way.

Nowick played the puck up to Gerard Hanson on the right wing, who immediately sent it over to Shine on the left wing. Shine, who was denied by Defiel five times earlier in the game, roofed a shot over the sophomore goaltender's glove to cut the deficit to one with just four seconds remaining on the clock.

The Lakers played a tight defensive system in the third period, limiting Northern Michigan to five shots on net. After Aidan Wright was called for slashing with 36.9 seconds remaining, the Wildcats had a 6-on-4 advantage with Dahlstrom pulled for the extra attacker. But they couldn't capitalize, and Mitch Hults iced the game with an empty net goal with six seconds on the clock.

With the loss, Northern Michigan's season-long three-game win streak was snapped. The Wildcats, now 15-12-6 (12-9-4 WCHA), will wrap up their series with the Lakers tomorrow at 7:07 p.m.

NOTES: Northern Michigan leads the all-time series, 66-40-10 ... With his goal, Shine extended his point streak to eight games, over which he has totaled 11 points (4g-7a) ... Shine, Nowick and Brock Maschmeyer combined to take 17 of the Wildcats' 28 shots ...  Shine finished one shot shy of his career high with seven while Maschmeyer set a new career high with six ... Dahlstrom suffered his first loss of the season and now sits at 7-1-0.