🔗 Share this article

Arttu Välilä netted the winner at 2:11 of extra time as the Finnish squad pulled off a stunning 4-3 win over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the IIHF World Junior Championship quarter-finals.

"Got to give full credit to the US," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great individuals and a superbly organized team. But I said we wanted that payback from the previous final, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semi-finals Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while the Canadians will meet Czechia. The Swedes beat Latvia six to three, Team Canada had a first-period five-goal outburst in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

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

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a 55-second span in the third to hand their team a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at 2 with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 remaining. J. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and an assist for the United States after taking a shot in the back of the head versus Switzerland and missing two games.

"I thought we made good plays for most of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, many of their high-quality chances resulted from our errors."

His BU teammate Cole Eiserman handed the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a quick shot from the right side.

Hutson scored on a fast break 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped twenty-eight attempts.
• Kempf made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – losing 6-3 to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after starting with their first three.

"It has been an honor to coach this group," said the American bench boss. "Our guys played a great game tonight and fell just a bit short. All credit to Finland. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our players left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Action

In the second match in the host city, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, T. Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and B. Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin connected in the following period. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it kind of kills their confidence."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell netted a pair for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman L. Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two assists to aid the Swedes stay undefeated in five games.

In Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czechs.

Consolation Game Outcome

Germany won the consolation match, beating the Danes eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany keep its place for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.