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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, full of exceptional individuals 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 semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will play Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to hand their team a 2-1 lead. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their Grade-A chances resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a two to one edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson scored on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf recorded 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 initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty feeling at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Action

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

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

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

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedish side stay undefeated in their five outings.

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

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its place next year in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.