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Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three 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 United States," stated Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of exceptional individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in the third period and the University of Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 advantage. Tuuva tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Performances and Reactions

The Boston University blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality chances came from our mistakes."

His university colleague C. Eiserman handed the U.S. a 2-1 edge 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 the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at four minutes and forty-six seconds on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The Americans lost their last two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It has been an honor to coach this team," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it really saps their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell scored twice for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedes remain perfect in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Game Result

Germany triumphed in the consolation match, beating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to help his nation keep its place next year in the main event. The Danish side dropped to the second tier.