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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play Czechia. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head against the Swiss and missing two games.

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

His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with 9:45 left 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 fast break 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

"It was an honor to coach this team," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it really saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes remain perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Game Result

Germany won the consolation match, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its place next year in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.