IRVING, Texas -- With his Dallas Stars Elite Tier I 18U youth team trailing the Colorado Thunderbirds 2-1 in the second intermission Sunday in the Rocky Mountain District championship game, coach Adam Robbins had a message.

"I’d rather be coaching this team behind than the Colorado Thunderbirds leading by a goal," he said, showing faith in his roster.

And indeed, the Stars scored twice in the final five minutes to seal a 2-1 victory and a trip to the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships March 26-30 in Amherst, N.Y.

“We wanted to show well for the Rocky Mountain District,” Robbins said. “It was a tight-checking game. That’s the way the playoffs should be, and they usually are.”

The Stars had to overcome some third-period adversity.

They appeared to have tied the game when Jasper Korican-Barlay knocked in a loose puck in front of the net. However, the referee ruled that the goal was dislodged from its moorings.

“Even though that goal didn’t count, we didn’t get deflated,” Robbins said. “Give our guys credit. They kept battling. They’re a good bunch of players.”

The Stars did tie the game when Alex Ochterbeck scored at 12:26 of the third, and Cory Delisle poked in the game-winning goal at 15:11.

Delisle said he was confident his team would win even though the Thunderbirds had beaten Dallas 3-2 in a shootout earlier in the tournament.

“Going to the third, we knew we had it,” Delisle said. “We feel we can score whenever we want.”

He described his goal as being in the right place at the right time.

“Connor Smith took a nice shot from the point, and the rebound came to me,” Delisle said. “The rebound was in the air, but once it landed, I hit it in. I go in front of the net. That’s where you score.”

Korican-Barlay had another good chance with about six minutes to play, but Thunderbirds goalie Ben Roberts stopped him from short range.

Dallas’ third-period comeback also included a penalty kill. The momentum finally turned when Ochterbeck took a pass from Dustin Bolinger in the slot for the game-tying goal.

“Our goalie kept us in the game,” Robbins said.

Colorado’s David Marabella scored at 10:02 of the first period, with an assist from Blake Terry, but Dallas goalie Brock Thompson made 19 saves and shut out the Thunderbirds — from Morrison, Colorado — over the last 40 minutes. Roberts ended with 30 saves.

Dallas mostly controlled the game after the first period — especially in the third period, which wasn’t as close as the Stars’ 10-6 advantage in shots on goal would indicate. For the game, Dallas had 32 shots to 20 for the Thunderbirds.

“It’s a big rivalry with the Thunderbirds,” said Delisle, a Plano West Senior High School student. “I went to nationals in my U16 year. We beat the Thunderbirds in overtime.”

He pointed out that all three youth district championship games Sunday were between the Stars and the T-birds.

“We said it was a best-of-three series, so we had to win,” he said.

To get to the championship game, the 18U Stars won a semifinal game Saturday 3-1 over the Rocky Mountain Roughriders from Westminster, Colo. Dallas had defeated Colorado Rampage 4-1 on Friday and Compete Hockey Academy Prep (Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho) 4-2 on Saturday.

The Stars’ best U18 finish at nationals was in 2009, when Dallas was the runner-up to the champion Detroit Little Caesar’s.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.