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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

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

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will meet Czechia. Sweden beat Latvia six to three, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality chances came from our mistakes."

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a two to one edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. 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 period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf recorded twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – losing 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It has been an honor to lead this team," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

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

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side remain perfect in five games.

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

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams had two goals to ensure his nation keep its spot for the following season in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.