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Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at 2:11 of overtime as Finland pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a hell of a team, full of great players and a well coached team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Third Period and Overtime

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

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to hand Finland a two to one lead. Tuuva tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and a helper for the Americans after being struck in the head versus Switzerland and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A chances came from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush thirty-five seconds into the second period. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

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

The Americans lost their final two games – falling six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It was an honor to lead this team," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion at the moment, but our players gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Action

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

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin scored in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we can be," Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it really kills their morale."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side stay perfect in their five outings.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Match Result

Germany won the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.