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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give credit to the US," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will face the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand their team a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University blueliner C. Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head versus the Swiss and missing the next two contests.

"I thought we executed well for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after winning their first three.

"It was an privilege to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a great game today and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow feeling at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Results

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how powerful we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it really kills their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side remain perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation retain its place for the following season in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.