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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the US," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of great players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two score.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a two to one advantage. 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 six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The Boston University blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A chances came from our mistakes."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a two to one edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson scored on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

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

"It has been an privilege to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. 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.

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

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really kills their morale."

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

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team won the consolation match, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation retain its spot for the following season in the main event. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.