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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey last eight.

"We must give full credit to the US," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to give Finland a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

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

His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five 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 stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

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

"It was an honor to coach this team," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, 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.

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

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes stay perfect in their five outings.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Match Result

Germany won the relegation game, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to ensure his nation keep its place for the following season in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.