HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Northern Michigan hockey team fell to No. 13 Michigan Tech, 4-0, Friday night at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

After a flurry of chances and a hit post in the game's third minute, the Huskies opened the scoring at 4:30 when Brent Baltus sent a backhand pass from behind the net to Michigan Tech leading scorer Alex Petan at the edge of the crease for a tap-in goal.

With 8:33 to go in the first, and 4:07 left in a Darren Nowick major penalty, Dominik Shine was sprung on a breakaway by Gerard Hanson. Shine made a move in tight, but Jamie Phillips stuffed his attempt to go five hole.

During Nowick's five-minute major, the Wildcats limited the Huskies to two shots on net, consistently clogging up the shooting lanes and keeping the puck to the outside. Northern Michigan then limited Michigan Tech to a single shot during a Denver Pierce minor assessed 1:07 after the Nowick major expired.

The teams spent the majority of the middle stanza on special teams, combining to take six minors, but neither could generate much offense until its final minutes.

At 16:18, Baltus extended the Husky advantage to 2-0, burying a Jake Lucchini rebound on his backhand into the upper right corner of the net. Just under two minutes, with the teams skating 4-on-4, Michigan Tech took a 3-0 lead after an offensive zone draw win on a Matt Roy bullet from the top of the left circle.

In the final seconds of the period, after Cliff Watson took a boarding penalty with 20 seconds left to put the Wildcats on a 4-on-3 man advantage, Brock Maschmeyer's shot rang the inside of the pipe and ricocheted to the boards.

The Huskies lengthened their lead to 4-0, converting on their fourth man advantage of the game on a Lucchini tally from the left edge of the right circle. Phillips finished with 21 saves to earn the shutout, only the third recorded against Northern Michigan this season.

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 15-13-7 (12-10-5 WCHA). They return to the Berry Events Center to take on the Huskies tomorrow at 7:07 p.m. Before the game, Northern Michigan will honor its eight-member senior class.

NOTES: Northern Michigan leads the all-time series, 69-56-14 ... The Wildcats were last shut out Oct. 30, a 0-0 tie with Bemidji State at the Berry Events Center ... Michigan Tech's four-goal margin of victory is tied for the largest posted against the Wildcats this season (4-0 at Lake Superior State Oct. 17, 5-1 at Ferris State Feb. 12) ... Zach Urban tied his career high with four shots, last accomplished against Alabama Huntsville Feb. 20 ... Shine's point streak was snapped at nine games; he totaled 12 points (4g-8a) over that stretch.