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Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as Finland engineered a remarkable 4-3 win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the US," remarked Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a seven to one rout over Slovakia, and Czechia topped the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 remaining in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third period to give their team a 2-1 lead. Tuuva tied it at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Reactions

The BU blueliner C. Hutson had a goal and a helper for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus Switzerland and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, many of their high-quality chances came from our mistakes."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead on a man advantage with 9:45 remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from his teammate and beat the Finnish goaltender with a quick shot from the right circle.

C. Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left side.

Between the Pipes Stats

• Rimpinen stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder recorded twenty-one stops.

The U.S. squad lost their last two games – falling 6-3 to Sweden 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 great game today and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty emotion right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin connected in the following period. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," Martin said. "Taking a 5-0 lead, it really kills their confidence."

In the first quarter-final, A. Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two assists to help the Swedish side stay undefeated in their five outings.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Consolation Game Result

The German team won the relegation game, beating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams had two goals to help Germany keep its spot for the following season in the top division. Denmark dropped to Division I-A.