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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will play Czechia. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third to give Finland a 2-1 advantage. He leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

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

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

Hutson tallied on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

The Americans fell in their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It has been an privilege to lead this team," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific 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."

Additional Playoff Action

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

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it kind of kills their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedish side remain undefeated in five games.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating Denmark 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its place next year in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.