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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"We must give full credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with great players and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, Finland will take on the Swedish team, while Canada will play the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with 7:17 left, then assisted on his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

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

"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a 2-1 edge on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He accepted a pass from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• Kempf recorded twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an privilege to lead this group," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Playoff Action

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the second. J. Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," B. Martin said. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it really saps their morale."

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

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Consolation Game Result

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, beating the Danes 8-4. M. Schams scored twice to ensure Germany retain its spot for the following season in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to Division I-A.