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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"We must give full credit to the US," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of exceptional individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will meet Czechia. Sweden beat the Latvian side six to three, Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to hand Finland a two to one lead. He tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the head against the Swiss and missing two games.

"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 chances resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf recorded 21 saves.

The Americans fell in their last two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It has been an privilege to coach this group," stated the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

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

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

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

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

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.