HOUGHTON, Mich. -- The Northern Michigan University hockey team dropped a 5-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup at rival No. 4 Michigan Tech Friday.

The loss drops NMU to 14-15-6 overall with a 11-12-4 WCHA mark. Michigan Tech improved to 25-8-2 with a 20-5-2 WCHA record.

"They are a really good team and I didn't think we did a very good job making the game hard on them at all," said NMU head coach Walt Kyle."They played exceptionally well and we gave them a lot of easy opportunities and we have to be a lot harder to play tomorrow."

It was a wild first period as three goals were scored in just 1:10 of action. Tech got on the board first when Blake Pietilla finished a rebound from Jimmy Davis at the 11:00 mark of the opening frame.

Just 39-seconds later, NMU sophomore forward Shane Sooth fired a shot back across the net, scoring his sixth goal of the season on assists from sophomore forward Dominik Shine and senior forward Reed Seckel, evening the score at 1-1.

31-seconds later the Huskies retook the lead, 2-1,  on a goal from Cliff Watson. Assists went to C.J. Eick and Shane Hanna at 12:10 in the period. They carried that lead into the break.

Michigan Tech scored the only goal of the second period with 5:23 left in the frame. Tyler Heinonen scored on assists from Malcolm Gould and Mike Neville to push the Huskies lead to 3-1.

The Huskies added an insurance goal at the 3:25 mark  of the third period when Blake Pietila took a pass from Reid Sturos who sent the puck across the face of the NMU goal as Pietila snuck it in behind NMU goalie Michael Doan. David Johnstone also picked up an assist on the play.

Tech scored shortly after at the 5:31 mark of the third when Heinonen one-timed a shot from just near the blue line. Assists on the play wen to Chris Leibinger and Malcoln Gould to set the final tally.

Doan made 41 saves in net for the Wildcats as Michigan Tech outshot the Wildcats 51-20 in the outing including a 22-2 advantage in the second period. NMU outshot the Huskies in the third period 11-9.

NMU returns home to host the Huskies on Saturday at the Berry Events Center. The game will be carried live on Fox UP  with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m. Saturday will be Wildcat Night Across the Country, Senior Night and NMU will host a UPAWS donation drive and its annual Silent Auction. There will also be a Pregame Tailgate in Vandament Arena from 5-7, tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.