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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third period to give Finland a two to one advantage. He leveled the score at 2 with 7:17 to go, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head against Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The U.S. squad fell in their final two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

"It was an privilege to lead this group," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. Give Finland. It's an empty feeling right now, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic turned aside twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it really saps their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes stay undefeated in five games.

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

Relegation Game Outcome

Germany won the consolation match, beating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to ensure his nation keep its place for the following season in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.