SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Northern Michigan hockey team captured the 2016-17 Cappo Cup by tying Lake Superior State, 1-1, Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena.

The Wildcats also picked up the extra WCHA point in the shootout. After Atte Tolvanen stopped J.T. Henke, Dominik Shine fired a blistering shot over Gordon Defiel's shoulder to seal the win.

Just 39 seconds into the game, Shane Sooth put Northern Michigan up by one, chipping a booming Rylan Yaremko rebound past Defiel from the right circle.

Tolvanen, who finished the opening stanza with 11 of his 21 stops, made his most impressive with just under 13 minutes on the clock. After a give-and-go set Gage Torrel up for a look in transition, Tolvanen slid across the crease fast enough to make the pad save. 

Northern Michigan carried the play in the second period, taking 13 shots and only giving up four. Despite that, Lake Superior State netted that frame's only goal.

In the first two minutes, Tolvanen came up big, turning aside Max Humitz on a 2-on-1 rush. From that point on, the Wildcats began to pepper Defiel with shots. Three of their best chances came on their lone man advantage of the frame; Defiel fought through a Demico Hannoun screen to stop a Brock Maschmeyer bid and then snared a sharp-angle Shine try.

At 17:21, the Lakers evened the score during their third power play when Humitz backhanded a Henke shot that was blocked in front of the net past Tolvanen.

Troy Loggins nearly re-gained Northern Michigan's advantage in the dying seconds of the period. After taking a long pass from Maschmeyer, he sliced through the defense to get a clear look at the net, but Defiel sent his shot to the corner.

The third period was marked by extended time spent on special teams and by stoppages of play. The Wildcats again outshot the Lakers, this time by a healthy 12-7 margin.

With just under 15 minutes remaining, Robbie Payne got a pass off from his knees to set up Yaremko for a point shot. Yaremko's shot kicked out to Payne, who forced Defiel to make a lunging save to keep the game locked at 1-1.

In the first overtime period, Northern Michigan was awarded a man advantage when Collin Saccoman was whistled for interference. During that power play, Defiel made a glove save on a low Shine bullet to maintain the tie.

The 3-on-3 overtime period featured plenty of quality chances for both sides. With 3:48 left to play, Shine fed Maschmeyer, who fired a shot off of the crossbar and out. Then, with just 47.2 seconds left on the clock, Tolvanen managed to deny Henke with the left pad to send the game into the decisive shootout.

The Wildcats return to the Berry Events Center, hosting Alaska-Anchorage on Jan. 20-21.

NOTES: Northern Michigan leads the all-time series, 67-41-13 ... The Wildcats and Lakers tied the season series, 1-1-2; Northern Michigan claimed the Cappo Cup by outscoring Lake Superior State by a 10-9 margin ... This was the Wildcats' first shootout win of the season; they fell in their only other shootout on Oct. 22 at Ferris State ... Sooth's goal was his first of the season ... Tolvanen finished the series with 0.92 goals against average and a .956 save percentage, his best weekend marks of the 2016-17 campaign ... Yaremko doubled his season point total over the weekend, registering a primary assist in both games ... Marquette native Brett Heikkila made his collegiate debut.