🔗 Share this article

Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as Finland pulled off a stunning four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we wanted that revenge from last year, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semi-finals on Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan Lee Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds remaining in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third to hand their team a two to one lead. He tied it at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the United States after being struck in the back of the head against Switzerland and missing the next two contests.

"In my opinion we executed well for most of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A chances came from our errors."

His university colleague C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a two to one lead on a power play with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

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

Goaltending Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf recorded twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – falling 6-3 to the Swedes on Wednesday in the group finale – after starting with their initial three matches.

"It was an honor to lead this group," said the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game today and came up just short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our players gave it all they had."

Additional Playoff Action

In the late game in Minneapolis, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it kind of saps their confidence."

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

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Game Result

The German team won the relegation game, beating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams scored twice to ensure his nation keep its place next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.