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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give full credit to the US," stated Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, full of great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I believe we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while Canada will meet Czechia. Sweden beat Latvia six to three, Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a six to two score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third to give Finland a 2-1 lead. Tuuva tied it at two-all with 7:17 to go, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after being struck in the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

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

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds left in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Summary

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

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

"It was an honor to lead this team," said the American bench boss. "They played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Playoff Results

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the following period. J. Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it kind of kills their morale."

In the opening playoff game, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side remain undefeated in their five outings.

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

Consolation Match Outcome

The German team won the relegation game, defeating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.