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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory 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 United States," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Final Frame and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 advantage. He tied it at two-all with 7:17 left, then set up his teammate'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 had a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head against the Swiss and sitting out two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, many of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 lead on a power play with 9:45 left in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson scored on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – falling six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their first three.

"It was an honor to coach 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 empty emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

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

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

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," B. Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side remain perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Result

Germany won the relegation game, beating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help Germany retain its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark dropped to the second tier.