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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 night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 advantage. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 left, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the back of the head versus the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

C. Hutson scored on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

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

The Americans lost their final two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

"It has been an honor to coach this group," said the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the late game in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really kills their confidence."

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

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team triumphed in the consolation match, defeating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its place next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.