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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from last year, and I think we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will play Czechia. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

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

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to give their team a two to one lead. He tied it at 2 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.

Key Performances and Reactions

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion 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 came from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the U.S. a two to one lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf recorded twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It was an privilege to lead this team," said the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

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

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a five-nothing advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

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

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany retain its spot next year in the main event. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.