It was good as advertised.

Saturday’s showdown between Appleton United and Fond du Lac for the Badgerland Conference title went down-to-the-wire, and then some.

After a 3-3 tie in regulation and a scoreless overtime, a shootout was needed to decide the league title.

It went the way of the home team, as Appleton won it 1-0. Freshman Trenton Bliss had the winning shootout goal, as Fond du Lac’s Michael Wilson shot was saved to clinch the conference crown for Appleton.

Things were going the Cardinals’ way for a while. They led 2-0 five minutes into the second period on goals from Ian Tess-Wanat and Wilson. But Appleton answered with two goals of their own in the period from Tyler Tumey and Keon Schmidt.

Fondy re-took the lead with 2:02 left in the game on another goal from Tess-Wanat that could have been the game-winner. But Appleton answered with 1:18 left to play to force overtime.

“I thought there was a lot of different momentum swings, Fond du Lac coach Ryan Sarazin said. “We definitely had opportunities to get the game taken care of before overtime. There’s no excuses.”

In OT, Fondy missed a big chance when Ty Rebedew’s breakaway was thwarted by Appleton goalie Dylan Phinney, who had 23 saves on 26 shots.

When the game went scoreless in the extra period, it was considered a tie by Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association rules. For the conference title, a 3 vs. 3 alternating shootout was used for the first time.

Appleton went first, and both teams’ first two attempts were stopped. Bliss’ scored on Appleton’s final attempt, and then Wilson’s was stopped by Phinney to clinch the Badgerland title and the No.1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Fond du Lac will be seeded second.

“It was a great experience,” Sarazin said of the shootout.

Appleton 3, Fond du Lac 3 Appleton wins shootout, 1-0

Second period: 1, Fondy, Tess-Wanat (Dunn, Steffes), 3:53; 2, Fondy, Wilson (Graf), 4:41; 3, Appleton, Tumey; 5:43; 4, Appleton, Schmidt, 7:52. Third period: 5, Fondy, Tess-Wanat (Nejedlo, Koenigs), 13:58 (PP); 6, Appleton, Watson, 15:42;. Saves: Appleton - Phinney, 23 saves on 26 shots; Fondy - Blagoue, 32 saves on 35