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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable four to three win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play Czechia. Sweden beat Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to hand their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, many of their Grade-A chances came from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Playoff Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how dominant we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes stay undefeated in their five outings.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Game Outcome

The German team triumphed in the consolation match, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place next year in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.