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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey last eight.

"We must give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over Slovakia, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a six to two score.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the United States with 1:33 left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to give Finland a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva tied it at two-all with 7:17 to go, then set up Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

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

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

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

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

"It was an honor to lead this team," said the American bench boss. "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 players gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it really saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side stay undefeated in five games.

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

Relegation Game Result

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.