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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

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 off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand their team a two to one lead. Tuuva tied it at 2 with 7:17 left, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head versus the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson said. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities came from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one lead on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

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

Goaltending Stats

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

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

"It was an privilege to coach this team," said the team's coach. "They played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give Finland. It's an hollow feeling right now, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Playoff Action

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

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 lead, it kind of kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes remain perfect in their five outings.

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

Consolation Match Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, defeating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its spot next year in the main event. Denmark dropped to the second tier.