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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great players and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will play Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two score.

Thrilling Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to give Finland a two to one advantage. He tied it at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the back of the head against the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Summary

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

The Americans fell in their last two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their first three.

"It was an honor to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Action

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

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it kind of kills their confidence."

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

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

Consolation Match Result

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its place next year in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.