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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we were seeking that revenge from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the United States with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to give their team a two to one lead. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the head against Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances came from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson scored on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Summary

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

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

"It has been an honor to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a great game today and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an empty feeling right now, but our players gave it all they had."

Other Playoff Action

In the late game in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes stay undefeated in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Relegation Game Outcome

Germany won the consolation match, beating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.