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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a six to two score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third to give Finland a two to one advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after taking a shot in the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances resulted from our errors."

His university colleague 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 his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

Hutson scored on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

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

The Americans lost their last two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their initial three matches.

"It has been an honor to lead this team," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Quarter-Final Action

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

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam 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 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes stay undefeated in their five outings.

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

Relegation Game Outcome

The German team won the consolation match, defeating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the top division. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.