ST. PAUL (AP) &045; Matt Greene picked a fine time to score just his second goal of the season.

The North Dakota defenseman blasted a long-range shot early in the third period for the game-winner as the Fighting Sioux beat Minnesota 4-2 in the WCHA Final Five’s third-place game Saturday.

With the win, North Dakota (22-14-5) will head into the NCAA playoffs on a 5-1-2 streak. It was the second loss in as many days for Minnesota (26-14-1) which may have fallen out of contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA playoffs with the loss.

The teams traded goals during a span of 67 seconds near the midway point of the opening period. Quinn Fylling opened the scoring for the Sioux, flipping the puck toward the net from behind the goal line. Fylling’s shot hit Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs’ blocker hand and deflected into the net. The Gophers answered shortly thereafter, when Danny Irmen’s shot from 12 feet out beat North Dakota’s Jordan Parise on the stick side.

Minnesota used a succession of 5-on-3 three power plays in the middle period to take a 2-1 lead when rookie forward Mike Howe scored his sixth career goal on a man advantage. With the Gophers on another power play, a Sioux rookie evened the score. Rastislav Spirko made a clever move around Minnesota defenseman Chris Harrington, then came in alone on Briggs and tucked the puck low on the goalie’s stick side.

After Greene put the Sioux ahead 3-2, Nick Fuher added an insurance goal on a power play with 1:48 remaining. Parise finished with 25 saves for the Sioux, while Briggs took the loss with 18 saves for Minnesota.