The St. Joe’s Federation hockey team won its 19th game of the season on Sunday with a hard-fought, 3-2 victory over Frontier at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. Despite losing on Saturday, 2-1, to Niagara-Wheatfield, the Marauders also earned the No. 1 seed throughout the Catholic Federation playoffs with an impressive 1-0 win over St. Francis on Friday night at the Northtown Center in Amherst.

Friday’s matchup against St. Francis was a rematch of last year’s Catholic Federation championship. A hard-hitting, back-and-forth game saw the Marauders gain an important victory.

“This was an important victory for us,” St. Joe’s head coach Rich Crozier said. “We are very pleased to have the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs.”

With 1:15 remaining in the second period, junior defenseman Mike Iannello scored his biggest goal of the season when he took a quick shot from the point after a nice feed from senior Connor Hagner. Junior Eric Paradowski and senior Tyler Mills provided the screen in front. Iannello’s shot beat the St. Francis goalie five-hole.

“I’m very happy for Mike to get that big goal for our hockey team,” Crozier said. “It was a quick, low shot on net that made its way in. Mike is one of the important players on our team whose play down the stretch will be critical in our success.”

Strong defense and excellent goaltending was all the Marauders needed as they hung on for the one-goal win. Senior Marc Mallare earned the shutout, making 24 saves. St. Joe’s out-shot St. Francis, 32-24, including impressively holding the Red Raiders to only four shots in the third.

“We worked on our defensive zone coverage in practice all week and I was very impressed with defensive play, especially in the third period,” Crozier said. “They are a good team and to hold them to four shots in that period is quite an accomplishment.”

Saturday’s game saw the Marauders fall behind early, 2-0, to a tough Niagara-Wheatfield team. The lone highlight occurred when junior Zach Klapp scored for St. Joe’s with 1:17 remaining in the game. With the Marauders goalie pulled, Klapp parked himself in front of the net and jammed the puck home. Seniors Will Mangione and Tyler Crawford recorded assists. The team pulled its goalie again to get the equalizer, but was unable to capitalize. Nick George was in the nets recording 31 saves on 33 shots.

The loss was St. Joe’s first Federation league defeat since Dec. 23, 2010.

“We are at that point in the season where every team is going to play us tough,” Crozier said. “We are obviously disappointed, but we are thankful that this happened to us now and not later in the playoffs. We will learn from it and be better off in the long run for going through it. We have a very talented team, but at this point in the season, you are not going to just win games on talent alone. Passion, intensity, desperation are all the intangibles that make the difference in close games. Unfortunately they had it and we did not.”

Sunday’s contest saw a desperate Marauders team put forth a strong effort in a 3-2 victory over Frontier. Senior Justin Frentzel led the way for St. Joe’s with two goals, while senior Connor Hagner scored the game winning goal with 2:38 remaining in the game.

“We need that,” Crozier said. “What a gutsy win for our hockey team. We trailed for a good portion of that game and while we continued to outplay them, we were not being rewarded early on for our strong effort. The message in the locker room was to have faith in your team and your teammates. We did in the third and eventually pulled out an impressive victory for our team.”

After falling behind early in the first period, Frentzel scored his first goal of the night shorthanded with 2:30 left in the second. Frentzel stole the puck from the Falcon defender and went in on the breakaway. He deked the goalie and slid it five-hole for the tally. Midway through the second, Frentzel scored his second to give St. Joe’s a 2-1 lead. Senior Will Mangione fed Frentzel on a two-on-one break. His quick shot beat the goalie top-shelf.

After Frontier tied the game late at two, Hagner played the hero. Junior Eric Paradowski tipped him the puck as he went in and buried it to give St. Joe’s a gutsy victory.

“I spoke before the game about the intangibles that we were missing on Saturday,” Crozier said. “Hagner was listening. He was a man among boys out there tonight. A real difference maker. He was determined to lead our team to victory, and he did. I’m proud to have that young man on my team.”

Marc Mallare recorded the win, making 11 saves. St. Joe’s outshot Frontier, 25-13.

Another busy week awaits St. Joe’s. On Thursday, they play Williamsville North at 7 p.m. at the Northtown Center in Amherst. The winner of that game will be awarded the Federation Division II Regular Season title.

“We are going to treat it like a playoff game,” Crozier said. “It certainly will have the atmosphere like it is. If we play the way we did (Sunday), I really like our chances. The Joe’s-North rivalry has really developed over the years and we believe that the game we live up to the hype. What a great opportunity for our team to prove what we are all about.”

On Friday morning, the Marauders travel to Massena for a tournament with Salmon River and host Massena. The tournament will conclude the 2011-12 regular season for St. Joe’s.