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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three win over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give credit to the US," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's 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 semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet Czechia. Sweden defeated Latvia 6-3, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

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

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after taking a shot in the head versus the Swiss and missing two games.

"I thought we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A chances came from our mistakes."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

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

"It has been an privilege to coach this team," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Results

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," B. Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes remain perfect in five games.

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

Consolation Game Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany retain its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.