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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give credit to the US," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. Sweden beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

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

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break thirty-five 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 saved 28 shots.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

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

"It was an privilege to coach this group," said the team's coach. "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."

Additional Playoff Results

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

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it kind of kills their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay perfect in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Game Result

The German team won the relegation game, beating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany retain its spot next year in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.