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

"Got to give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, loaded with exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Final Frame and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to give Finland a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after being struck in the head against Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our errors."

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson scored on a fast break 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It has been an privilege to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 lead, it kind of kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay undefeated in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Consolation Game Result

The German team triumphed in the consolation match, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its place next year in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.