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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship last eight.

"Got to give credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from last year, and I believe we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches Sunday, Finland will face Sweden, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in the third period and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second span in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University blueliner C. Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the head against the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the United States a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right side.

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

• Rimpinen saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder made twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad lost their last two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It has been an privilege to coach this team," said the team's coach. "They played a great game tonight and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Action

In the late game in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

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

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell netted a pair for Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes remain undefeated in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Relegation Match Result

The German team won the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.