🔗 Share this article

Arttu Välilä netted the winner at two minutes and eleven seconds of extra time as Finland 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 United States," stated Finland's leader Aron Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, full of great players and a well coached team. But I said we wanted that revenge from last year, and I think we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will face Sweden, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. Sweden defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a 7-1 romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame Switzerland by a 6-2 score.

Thrilling Third Period and Overtime

The Michigan State Spartan L. Ryker tied it for the United States with 1:33 remaining in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie N. Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to hand their team a 2-1 lead. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then set up his teammate's go-ahead goal with 6:22 on the clock. J. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Key Performances and Post-Game Comments

The Boston University defenseman C. Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the back of the head versus the Swiss and sitting out the next two contests.

"I thought we executed well for a lot of the game," Hutson commented. "But the little bounces that they got, a lot of their high-quality chances came from our errors."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a two to one edge on a man advantage with nine minutes and forty-five seconds remaining in the second period. He accepted a pass from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

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

Between the Pipes Stats

• Finland's goalie saved 28 shots.
• The American netminder recorded 21 saves.

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

"It was an honor to coach this group," stated the team's coach. "Our guys played a great game today and came up just short. All credit to the Finns. It's an empty feeling right now, but our guys gave it all they had."

Other Quarter-Final Results

In the second match in Minneapolis, the Canadians routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, Tij Iginla, Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the following period. Jack Ivankovic made twenty-one shots.

"Just goes to show how dominant we are," B. Martin remarked. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it kind of saps their confidence."

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

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

Consolation Match Outcome

Germany won the consolation match, defeating Denmark eight to four. M. Schams scored twice to help Germany retain its place for the following season in the top division. Denmark was relegated to the second tier.