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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great individuals 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 semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while Canada will play Czechia. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

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

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 left, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 lead on a power play with 9:45 left in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

Hutson scored on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. 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 saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – falling six to three to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after starting with their first three.

"It was an privilege to lead this group," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Quarter-Final Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

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

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

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes remain perfect in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Game Result

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help his nation keep its place next year in the top division. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.