Ryker Lee tied the game in the third to force a sudden death period, but Finland’s Arttu Valila netted the game winner in overtime to end Team USA’s tournament run on Friday night.
Cole Hutson got the United States on the board first in period two, but Finland’s Heikki Ruohonen would even the score at 1-1 just a few minutes later. Finland would take a too many men penalty just before the halfway mark of the period, leading to a power play goal for Cole Eiserman and the United States.
Finland would level the score once again in the third on a Leo Tuuva goal, then Joona Saarelainen would give them their first lead of the game with less than half a period to go. The United States wouldn’t go away though, as Ryker Lee found some space right in front of the net and rifled one home to tie the game at 3, forcing overtime.
Just over two minutes into the extra period Arttu Valila would net the game winner for Finland, punching their ticket to the semifinal round.
After the loss, Team USA and UMD defenseman Adam Kleber had this to say.
“Its a hard tournament. There’s good teams over there, and you’ve just got to be prepared. Can’t leave the game to chance. Could have gone either way, just got to work harder and learn from it,” said Kleber.