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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will take on the Swedish team, while Canada will play Czechia. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to give Finland a 2-1 lead. Tuuva leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 left, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought 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 university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left side.

Goaltending Stats

• Rimpinen saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their last two games – losing 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It has been an honor to lead this group," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game tonight and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Playoff Action

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

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

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin said. "Going up 5-0 lead, it really saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side remain perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Consolation Match Outcome

Germany won the consolation match, defeating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.