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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give credit to the US," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third period to give their team a two to one advantage. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after being struck in the head against Switzerland and sitting out two games.

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

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

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

Goaltending Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

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

"It was an honor to lead this team," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an empty feeling right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Results

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

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

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

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedes remain perfect in their five outings.

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

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.