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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third period to hand Finland a two to one lead. Tuuva tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Reactions

The Boston University blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the head against Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their Grade-A opportunities came from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Rimpinen saved 28 shots.
• Kempf made twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their last two games – falling 6-3 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," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give Finland. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Other Quarter-Final Results

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

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Going up 5-0 lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

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

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Game Result

The German team won the consolation match, defeating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany retain its spot next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.