FRASER, Mich. -- It came down to the wire, but the Michigan Jaguars of Troy, Mich., prevailed, 2-1, against the Phoenix Force in the championship game of USA Hockey's Tier II 18 & Under National Championship at Great Lakes Sports City.

Michigan ended its season at 53-11-1.

"Our penalty kill has been the key for us," said Michigan coach Kurt Schill, whose team killed an extra-man advantage for Phoenix late in the game to seal the victory. "It's the best I've ever seen. We teach our forwards to take their man to the side and then turn the rest of it over to our defense."

Michigan's Adam Hoffa scored the only goal of the first period, unassisted, with 11:54 to play. It came with six seconds left in a five-on-three advantage for the Jaguars.

Michigan improved its lead to 2-0 with 11:02 left in the second period when Weston Arch passed to Steve Deplancke, who fired the puck into the net.

Phoenix, though, came back in the third period with 4:21 to play. The puck came off the boards behind the net and to the stick of Phoenix's Gavin Hartzog, who fired the puck into the net. He was assisted by Evan Jeszka and Chris Rausch.

With 2:11 to play, Phoenix went on the power play and pulled its goalie with a minute left, but the Jaguars defense prevailed.

Michigan had a 25-23 shots advantage, and Schill liked the way his team was playing after beating the Mid-Fairfield Blues in the semifinals.

"I expected to get here, but I didn't expect to get to the finals," he said after the semifinal win. "Discipline has been the key, plus hard work. Our penalty kills have been very good. We killed off 28 of 32 power plays against us [prior to the finals].

"The first five minutes of our first game of the tournament, we were shaky. After the first period, we were fine. The semifinal was a tough game. They didn't have many players, but they have quality. They have three guys going to the college level."

Phoenix ended the season at 25-3-4 and was 3-2-1-0 for the tournament.

"For us, we didn't come out physical enough," said Phoenix coach Josh Nichols. "They got to the puck and made plays count."

Nichols said he was confident when his team scored the second goal that it could tie the game.

"A couple of shots on net and a rebound would have helped, but we couldn't bring it home," he said.

The Jaguars are based out of Troy, 10 miles from the arena.

"We could sleep in our own beds," Schill said. "I have a good group of kids. Until December, we hadn't won any tournaments. We had goals of various tournaments we wanted to win. Winning Nationals was a bonus."

Goalie Kevin Kissaw made 22 saves for Michigan, while Randy Willis made 23 for Phoenix.

"I was a little nervous coming in to this," Kissaw said. "When the buzzer sounded, it felt great. We found a way to win. When it came down to the last minute and they were putting pressure on, I still had a good feeling. We have an awesome penalty kill. We get good coaching on that."

In preliminary round action, Michigan won, 4-0, against the Tonawanda Lightning; 3-1 against South Boston and 5-2 against Belle Tire. In the quarterfinals, it was 6-2 against the Alliance Bulldogs and 6-2 in the semifinals against Mid-Fairfield.

Phoenix opened Nationals with a 3-2 overtime win against the Alliance Bulldogs and then defeated the York Devils, 3-2, and the Butler Valley Dawgs, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, it was 3-2 for Phoenix against Tonawanda and 7-4 in the semifinals against the Tampa Maple Leafs.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.