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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable four to three win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 left in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand their team a two to one lead. He leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the Americans 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 a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A opportunities came from our errors."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

Hutson tallied on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – 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 empty feeling right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," B. Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay perfect in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Result

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, beating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to ensure Germany retain its place next year in the main event. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.