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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the US," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I believe we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to give their team a 2-1 advantage. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Summary

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

The Americans lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game today and fell just a bit short. Give Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Results

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we can be," Martin said. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it kind of kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedish side remain undefeated in their five outings.

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

Consolation Game Outcome

The German team won the consolation match, beating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place for the following season in the main event. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.