Finland looked well on their way to recording the biggest shock of the tournament when they fired themselves into a 3-0 lead in the opening period in Buffalo, United States.

But Russia had other ideas and engineered an incredible comeback to steal a 4-3 win just three seconds before the final buzzer.

Leading the Russian recovery was Fanuza Kadirova, whose final period double, including the last gasp winner, ensured her team would progress to the semi-finals.

"I couldn't believe it when I looked up and saw there were three seconds left," said Kadirova.

"I was skating as fast as I could and not thinking about anything except to score."

Finland's sturdy defence proved as effective as always in the opening period as they restricted Russia to just four shots on goal, while carving open chance after chance at the other end of the ice.

The earlier pressure paid dividends for the Finns as Petra Nieminen and Sanni Hakala netted within 12 seconds of one another to give their team the early advantage.

Savolainen benefited from a late power play to double her tally for the match as she added a third with under a second left on the clock.

Finland looked well on their way to a semi-final berth after taking a 3-0 lead against Russia in the quarters ©Francois Laplante/HHOF-IIHF Images



Captain Anna Shokhina began the Russian revival after pouncing on some sloppy defensive play to smash home from close range.

It was not until the third period that Russia really began to turn up the pressure, though, with Nina Pirogova's early power play goal closing the deficit to just one.

Kadirova completed the comeback with her late double, moving Russia into the semi-finals and en route to what could be the nation's first ever medal at the Under-18 World Championships.

The second quarter-final saw Czech Republic recover from a turbulent preliminary stage to record their first win of the tournament against Group B winners Sweden.

A first period penalty for Noemi Neubauerova gave the favourites the advantage in an otherwise slow opening before Veronika Bucifalova doubled the Czech lead early in the second.

Sweden then looked dead and buried when Martina Zednikova's tame shot squeezed past Swedish goaltender Emma Soderberg just two minutes later.

The Czech Republic held on to their early advantage to hold off Sweden in the day's second quarter-final ©Francois Laplante/HHOF-IIHF Images


This third goal seemed to bump the Swedes in to gear as they pulled a goal back courtesy of Frida Gradin as the second period neared its end.

An early Hanna Olsson goal made the score interesting at 3-2 but the drama was short lived as Michaela Pejzlova reasserted the Czech cushion less than five minutes later.

A consolation goal by Celine Tedenby with just over two minutes left brought another edge to the encounter but superb goaltending by Blanka Skodova - who made more than 40 saves throughout the match - ensured Czech Republic's progression to the semi-finals.

Action will resume in Buffalo on Sunday (January 11) where Russia face off against Canada and the Czech Republic take on the United States for a spot in the final on Monday (December 12).

The relegation battle between Switzerland and Japan will also continue on Sunday after the Swiss side took a one game advantage following a 2-1 victory today.

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