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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to hand Finland a two to one lead. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The BU blueliner C. Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against Switzerland and missing two games.

"I thought we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities came from our errors."

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad fell in their final two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It was an honor to coach this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Other Playoff Action

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it kind of kills their morale."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay undefeated in five games.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Consolation Match Result

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place next year in the main event. Denmark dropped to the second tier.