🔗 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 win over the two-time defending champion American team on Friday evening in the world junior hockey quarter-finals.

"Got to give credit to the United States," remarked Finnish captain A. Kiviharju. "They are a fantastic squad, loaded with exceptional individuals and a superbly organized team. But I mentioned we were seeking that payback from the previous final, and I believe we kind of earned it this evening."

In the semifinal matches on Sunday, the Finns will take on Sweden, while Canada will meet Czechia. The Swedes defeated the Latvian side six to three, Team Canada produced a five-goal first period in a seven to one romp over the Slovakian team, and Czechia overcame the Swiss by a 6-2 margin.

Thrilling Final Frame and Overtime

Michigan State’s L. Ryker tied it for the U.S. team with 1:33 left in regulation and the Notre Dame goalie Nick Kempf pulled for an additional skater.

L. Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen found the net in a fifty-five-second span in the third to give their team a two to one advantage. Tuuva leveled the score at two-all with seven minutes and seventeen seconds left, then assisted on Saarelainen’s game-leading goal with 6:22 on the clock. Saarelainen also earned a helper on Tuuva’s goal.

Notable Contributions and Post-Game Comments

The BU blueliner Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist for the Americans after being struck in the head against Switzerland and missing two games.

"In my opinion we executed well for a lot of the game," the defenseman said. "But the small details that they got, a lot of their high-quality opportunities came from our errors."

His BU teammate C. Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 edge on a power play with 9:45 remaining in the middle frame. He took a feed from his teammate and fooled Petteri Rimpinen with a one-timer from the right side.

C. Hutson scored on a fast break thirty-five seconds into the second. H. Ruohonen tied it at 4:46 on a quick shot from the left wing.

Between the Pipes Summary

• Rimpinen saved twenty-eight attempts.
• The American netminder made 21 saves.

The U.S. squad fell in their last two games – losing six to three to the Swedes on Wednesday night in the group finale – after winning their initial three matches.

"It has been an privilege to lead this group," stated the American bench boss. "They played a great game today and fell just a bit short. All credit to the Finns. It's an empty emotion at the moment, but our guys left everything on the ice."

Additional Quarter-Final Results

In the late game in the host city, the Canadian team routed Slovakia with the aforementioned first-period explosion.

C. Reschny, T. Iginla, M. Misa, Sam O’Reilly and Brady Martin tallied in the first period, and P. Martone and C. Beaudoin scored in the second. Jack Ivankovic turned aside 21 saves.

"This demonstrates how dominant we can be," Martin said. "Taking a five-nothing lead, it kind of kills their morale."

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

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis Tomas Galvas, Samuel Drancak, Adam Jiricek, P. Sikora, Jiri Klima and J. Fibigr scored for the Czech team.

Consolation Game Result

The German team won the consolation match, beating Denmark 8-4. Manuel Schams scored twice to help Germany retain its spot for the following season in the main event. Denmark was relegated to Division I-A.