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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give credit to the US," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great individuals and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a six to two score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third to give their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after being struck in the head versus the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality chances resulted from our mistakes."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Summary

• Rimpinen stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded twenty-one stops.

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 was an honor to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give Finland. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Results

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

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. Jack Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," B. Martin said. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it really kills their morale."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedes remain perfect in their five outings.

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

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.