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

"Got to give full credit to the US," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional individuals 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 on Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat Latvia 6-3, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

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

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought we executed well for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a two to one lead on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

C. Hutson scored on a fast break 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their last two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It has been an honor to coach this group," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game tonight and came up just short. Give Finland. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we can be," B. Martin said. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it really saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes remain perfect in five games.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Result

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.