DE PERE - Sometimes a tie is almost as good as a win.

That proved to be the case for St. Norbert College, which officially skated to a 3-3 overtime tie with Adrian College in the second game of a key Northern Collegiate Hockey Association series at Resch Olympic Pavilion. The Green Knights then needed five rounds to heel the Bulldogs 2-1 in the shootout to gain the extra point.

St. Norbert (16-4-1, 12-1-1 NCHA), ranked No. 13 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, snapped a tie with fourth-ranked Adrian (17-2-2, 12-0-2) atop the NCHA standings by taking the shootout. The Green Knights have 39 points to eke ahead of the Bulldogs' 38 points with four games remaining.

The Green Knights took the lead in the first round of the shootout when Sydney Zurawik scored. Adrian came up empty in its first two rounds giving St. Norbert an opportunity in the bottom of the second but didn't score. Adrian then tied it when Callie Wollschlager scored, with the Green Knights stopped in their half of the inning. Neither team scored in the fourth round and Adrian was stopped again in the top of the fifth. Tristan Wicklund (pictured) then beat Adrian goaltender Annie Gilbert five-hole for the decisive goal and set off a wild on-ice celebration.

The game itself was as entertaining as the shootout, with the two teams trading goals throughout.

Adrian broke the ice when Tia Lascelle scored a power-play goal at 9:48 of the first period, but the Green Knights responded quickly when Maleiyah Streck scored just over a minute later at 10:52. The game would remain 1-1 until 12:59 of the second period when Adrian's Karmen Anderson scored on a breakaway at 12:59. St. Norbert again answered quickly with Lexi Bonfe scoring just 33 seconds later to knot things at 2-2.

The Bulldogs scored early in the third period when Lascelle scored at 1:39. Ava Anick then brought the Green Knights back to even when she scored at 4:48.

Zurawik had St. Norbert's lone multi-point game with a pair of assists.

Adrian outshot St. Norbert 34-22. Keira Markell made 31 saves for the Green Knights, while Gilbert made 22 stops for the Bulldogs.

St. Norbert was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Adrian was 1-for-3.