🔗 Share this article

Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three win over the two-time defending champion United States on Friday night in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give full credit to the US," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "That's a hell of a team, loaded with exceptional individuals and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, Finland will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet Czechia. The Swedes defeated Latvia six to three, Canada had a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and the Czechs topped Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Dramatic Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s L. Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with one minute and thirty-three seconds left in the third period and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and J. Saarelainen scored in a 55-second burst in the third to hand Finland a two to one lead. Tuuva tied it at two-all with 7:17 left, then assisted on his teammate's go-ahead goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the Americans after taking a shot in the back of the head against Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we made good plays for most of the game," Hutson said. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances resulted from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a two to one lead on a power play with 9:45 left in the second period. He took a feed from Hutson and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Goaltending Summary

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• Kempf recorded 21 saves.

The Americans fell in their last two games – falling six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the final preliminary game – after winning their initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to lead this team," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a terrific game tonight and fell just a bit short. Give the Finns. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

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

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

"This demonstrates how powerful we can be," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing lead, it really saps their morale."

In the opening playoff game, A. Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius had a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side stay undefeated in five games.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, S. Drancak, A. Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr provided the goals for the Czech team.

Relegation Game Result

The German team triumphed in the relegation game, beating the Danes 8-4. Manuel Schams had two goals to ensure Germany keep its spot next year in the top division. The Danish side was relegated to the second tier.