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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of extra time as Finland engineered a remarkable four to three win over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of exceptional individuals and a well coached team. But I said we were seeking that payback from last year, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third period to hand their team a 2-1 advantage. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then set up Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on Tuuva’s goal.

Key Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A chances resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one lead on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 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 saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their final two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their initial three matches.

"It was an privilege to lead this group," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Results

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

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Relegation Game Result

Germany won the relegation game, defeating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its spot for the following season in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.