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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three win over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from last year, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over Slovakia, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third period to give their team a two to one lead. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 left, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"I thought we executed well for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A chances resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder made 21 saves.

The Americans fell in their final two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

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

Other Playoff Action

In the second match in the host city, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it really saps their confidence."

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

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team triumphed in the relegation game, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.