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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the United States with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to give Finland a 2-1 lead. Tuuva tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus Switzerland and sitting out two games.

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

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The Americans lost their last two games – falling 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after winning their initial three matches.

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

Additional Playoff Action

In the late game in the host city, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it kind of saps their morale."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side stay perfect in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany won the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its spot next year in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.