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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give credit to the United States," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will take on the Swedish team, while Canada will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to give Finland a two to one lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head against the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," Hutson said. "But the small details that they got, many of their Grade-A chances resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one edge on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson scored on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Summary

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

The U.S. squad fell in their final two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It was an privilege to coach this team," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Other Playoff Results

In the late game in the host city, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it really saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes remain perfect in their five outings.

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

Relegation Match Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, defeating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its spot next year in the top division. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.