GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – After the D2 hockey team wrapped up their regular season at the beginning of February, the Panthers will begin their postseason action on Saturday as they face Illinois State. Davenport enters the Central Regional with 17-4-1 a record on the season. The Panthers will face the Red Birds on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Chicago, Ill., at the West Meadows Ice Arena.
 
A Quick Look at the Central Regional
 
After Grand Valley State and Missouri State grabbed the first two spots to the National Tournament out of the Central Region, eight more teams will battle it out for the final two spots in the National Tournament. The eight teams that will travel to Chicago for the Central Regionals will be; Lindenwood, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Davenport, Waldorf and Northern Michigan. All eight teams were ranked 3-10 in the region at the end of the regular season. In the final games of the regional on Sunday, the highest remaining seed will face the lowest remaining seed, while the two middle seeds will play one another to decide the final two teams to advance to the National Tournament.
 
Scouting Illinois State
 
The Redbirds enter the regional tournament ranked fifth in the region as they hold a 23-13-1 record on the season, and they wrapped up their regular season schedule with a loss against Saint Louis, 4-3 on February 13th. Illinois State has two scorers with more than 50 points on the season, as Tim Talty leads the way with 37 assists and 56 total points. Connor Anderson is the leading goal scorer on the team with 26 goals, and he has 55 points on the season. David Krienke has played the majority of minutes in net for the Redbirds as he has compiled a 3.60 goals against average and a .891 save percentage.
 
Davenport will start the regional tournament on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Chicago, Ill., against Illinois State at West Meadows Ice Arena.  
 
DII Ice Hockey Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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