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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. Sweden beat Latvia six to three, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third period to hand Finland a two to one advantage. He tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. 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 United States after being struck 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," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A opportunities came from our errors."

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an honor to lead this team," said the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it kind of kills their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes remain undefeated in their five outings.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany won the relegation game, defeating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.