🔗 Share this article

Finland's Arttu Välilä scored the decisive goal at two minutes and eleven seconds of overtime as the Finnish squad engineered a remarkable four to three victory over the reigning two-time champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"We must give credit to the United States," stated Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju. "That's a fantastic squad, loaded with great players and a superbly organized team. But I said we were seeking that revenge from last year, and I think we truly deserved it tonight."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on the Swedish team, while the Canadians will play the Czech Republic. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side 6-3, Canada produced a first-period five-goal outburst in a 7-1 rout over Slovakia, and the Czechs overcame the Swiss by a six to two margin.

Thrilling Third Period and Extra Session

Michigan State’s Lee Ryker knotted the score for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in regulation and the University of Notre Dame netminder N. Kempf off for an extra attacker.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen scored in a fifty-five-second burst in the third to hand Finland a 2-1 lead. He leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds to go, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with six minutes and twenty-two seconds remaining. Saarelainen also assisted on the first goal.

Notable Performances and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson recorded a goal and a helper for the United States after being struck in the back of the head against the Swiss and missing two games.

"In my opinion we made good plays for a lot of the game," Hutson said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their Grade-A opportunities resulted from our mistakes."

His university colleague Cole Eiserman handed the United States a two to one lead on a man advantage with 9:45 left in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and beat Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right circle.

Hutson tallied on a rush 35 seconds into the second period. Heikki Ruohonen equalized at 4:46 on a snap shot from the left side.

Goaltending Stats

• Finland's goalie stopped 28 shots.
• The American netminder made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad lost their final two games – losing six to three to Sweden on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their first three.

"It was an honor to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a great game today and came up just short. All credit to Finland. It's an hollow emotion right now, but our players left everything on the ice."

Other Playoff Action

In the second match in the host city, the Canadian team overwhelmed Slovakia with the five-goal first.

Cole Reschny, Tij Iginla, M. Misa, S. O'Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the opening twenty minutes, and P. Martone and Cole Beaudoin scored in the second. J. Ivankovic made 21 saves.

"Just goes to show how powerful we are," B. Martin said. "Going up five-nothing advantage, it really kills their morale."

In the first quarter-final, Anton Frondell scored twice for Team Sweden against Latvia. The defender L. Sahlin Wallenius contributed a goal and two helpers to aid the Swedish side remain perfect in five games.

In Minneapolis T. Galvas, S. Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, J. Klima and Jakub Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Match Outcome

Germany won the relegation game, defeating the Danes eight to four. Manuel Schams had two goals to ensure Germany keep its spot for the following season in the main event. The Danish side dropped to Division I-A.