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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable four to three win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of exceptional individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat Latvia 6-3, Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third to hand Finland a two to one lead. He leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head against the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved 28 shots.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," stated the team's coach. "They played a terrific game today and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Playoff Results

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. J. Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how powerful we can be," B. Martin said. "Going up five-nothing lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes stay undefeated in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team won the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams had two goals to ensure his nation retain its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.