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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while the Canadians will play Czechia. Sweden defeated Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances came from our mistakes."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad fell in their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an privilege to lead this team," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Action

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

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing advantage, it kind of kills their morale."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to aid the Swedish side stay perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Game Outcome

The German team won the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its place next year in the main event. Denmark dropped to the second tier.