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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will face the Swedish team, while Canada will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Third Period and Extra Session

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

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to give their team a two to one lead. He leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the head versus the Swiss and sitting out two games.

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

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson scored on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

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

"It was an honor to lead this team," stated the American bench boss. "They played a great game tonight and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow feeling right now, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Other Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

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

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it really kills their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side remain perfect in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, beating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams had two goals to ensure his nation keep its place next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.