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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime 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 quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from the previous final, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia 6-3, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a six to two score.

Thrilling Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third to hand their team a two to one lead. Tuuva tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the head versus Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the U.S. a two to one edge on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Goaltending Stats

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

The U.S. squad fell in their final two games – losing 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an honor to lead this team," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Results

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," Martin remarked. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it kind of saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side stay perfect in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team triumphed in the relegation game, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.