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Finland's 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 last eight.

"We must give credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a superbly organized 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 Sunday, the Finns will face the Swedish team, while Canada will play Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the United States with 1:33 left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a two to one lead. He tied it at 2 with 7:17 left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The Boston University blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head versus Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"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 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 middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The Americans fell in their final two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the group finale – after winning their initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

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

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it really saps their morale."

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

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Game Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.