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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey last eight.

"Got to give credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia 6-3, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third to hand Finland a two to one lead. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 left, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the head against the Swiss and missing two games.

"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 chances resulted from our errors."

His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Goaltending Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf recorded 21 saves.

The Americans lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

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

Additional Playoff Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," B. Martin said. "Going up 5-0 advantage, it kind of kills their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to help the Swedish side remain perfect in five games.

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

Relegation Game Outcome

Germany triumphed in the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its spot next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.