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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while Canada will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to hand their team a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 edge on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their last two games – losing 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an privilege to coach this group," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Results

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

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it really kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes remain undefeated in five games.

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

Relegation Game Result

The German team triumphed in the relegation game, beating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams had two goals to help Germany retain its place next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.