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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will take on the Swedish team, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 advantage. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities came from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a two to one lead on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• Kempf recorded twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their final two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," stated the team's coach. "They played a great game tonight and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it really kills their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes stay perfect in their five outings.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Match Result

The German team won the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.