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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while the Canadians will play Czechia. Sweden beat Latvia six to three, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third period to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

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

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson scored on a rush 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Stats

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

The Americans lost their final 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 team," said the team's coach. "They played a great game today and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Playoff Action

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

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side stay undefeated in five games.

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

Consolation Match Result

The German team won the consolation match, beating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to ensure Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.