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Finland's Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion United States on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the United States," remarked Finland's leader A. Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will face the Swedish team, while Canada will meet the Czech Republic. The Swedes beat the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one rout over the Slovakian team, and Czechia topped Switzerland by a six to two margin.

Dramatic Final Frame and Extra Session

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the United States with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame netminder Nick Kempf off for an extra attacker.

Lee Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a 55-second span in the third period to give their team a two to one lead. He tied it at 2 with 7:17 to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Contributions and Reactions

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the head versus Switzerland and sitting out two games.

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their Grade-A chances resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson tallied on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

The Americans lost their last two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday in the final preliminary game – after starting with their first three.

"It was an privilege to lead this team," said the team's coach. "They played a terrific game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and Porter Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we are," B. Martin said. "Going up 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 Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to help the Swedes stay perfect in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis T. Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, Petr Sikora, Jiri Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Relegation Game Outcome

Germany won the relegation game, defeating Denmark eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to help Germany retain its spot next year in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.