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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with exceptional players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia 6-3, Team Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s 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 N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 left, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the head versus Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality chances resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The Americans fell in their final two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It has been an honor to coach this group," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game tonight and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

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

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin scored in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it kind of kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to help the Swedes stay undefeated in five games.

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

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place next year in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.