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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, full of exceptional individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will play Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia 6-3, Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 left in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to hand their team 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 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after taking a shot in the head against the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A opportunities came from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

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

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The Americans lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It has been an privilege to lead this group," stated the team's coach. "They played a great game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin said. "Going up five-nothing lead, it kind of saps their morale."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side stay perfect in their five outings.

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

Consolation Game Outcome

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, defeating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to ensure his nation retain its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.