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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while Canada will play Czechia. Sweden defeated the Latvian side six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a two to one advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the back of the head versus Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances came from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson scored on a rush 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

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The Americans lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

"It has been an honor to coach this team," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an empty feeling right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Action

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

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton 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 Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Game Result

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.