Signs point to Liam Souliere taking over full-time in net for Gophers men’s hockey team

As the college hockey season ramps up toward tournament time, coaching decisions become increasingly important. For Bob Motzko and the Gophers men’s team, no decision carries as much importance as the choice of starting goaltender.

So far this season, the Gophers have used sophomore Nathan Airey as the Friday starter and graduate transfer Liam Souliere as the Saturday starter. It’s a job-share that’s resulted in a 21-6-3 overall record, second-place status in the Big Ten standings and the No. 3 spot in the PairWise Ratings, which project Minnesota as one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

As the Gophers returned from their bye week and prepared for their Friday-Saturday series at Michigan, Motzko hadn’t decided if he’s sticking with the rotation or settling on a single starter, as he had with Justen Close for the previous 2½ seasons.

“Haven’t decided yet,” Motzko said Tuesday. “Really, we haven’t. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. We’re in good hands, though.”

There has been one exception to Airey and Souliere alternating starts this season, and that came in the Gophers’ last series. With Airey sidelined because of illness, Souliere started both games of a 5-2 and 4-1 sweep of Wisconsin, making 33 saves in the opener and 26 in the finale.

“Both guys have been really good for us, and there might be a chance that both guys have to be really good for us,” Motzko said. “We’re reading it now, and we’re reading it closely. Is there an advantage one way or the other? The great thing for us is we’re making decisions on good options.”

Should Motzko and his staff, including goalie coach Brennan Poderzay, settle on one goalie, signs point to Souliere, a three-year starter at Penn State before he joined the Gophers in the offseason. The 25-year-old from Montreal has 105 collegiate games under his belt and has a solid postseason pedigree, leading the Nittany Lions to within one goal of the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four, losing in overtime to Michigan in a regional final.

This season, Souliere is 10-4-1, and he ranks ninth nationally in goals-against average (2.02) and 13th in save percentage (.927). Airey, by comparison, is 11-2-2 with a 2.50 GAA (34th nationally) and .901 save percentage (tied for 56th). Airey was pulled in the second period of his last start after giving up five goals in a 9-3 loss at Michigan State on Jan. 24.

Souliere felt comfortable playing both games against Wisconsin and credited his teammates for their consistent weekend.

“I had to step up to the plate, and we played our best six periods in a row for the year,” he said. “It just felt good to be out there for two games, too. The last time I played on a Friday was here in the [Big Ten] playoffs [for Penn State last year].”

If handed the starting reins down the stretch, Souliere is prepared to handle the burden.

“That’s our job, right?” he said. “For both Nathan and me, just be ready whenever the call is made, and support each other because we’re in this together. Whoever does start, we know that we have a chance to win, which is a luxury that this team has.”

In Souliere, Motzko sees an athletic goalie who’s become a valuable complement to Minnesota’s deep defensive corps.

“Liam really is comfortable playing the puck — that’s pretty obvious," Motzko said. “He goes behind the net and will stickhandle and try to beat guys. It’s been very effective in helping us in our breakout.”

Souliere endured a difficult final season at Penn State, where he went 12-14-1 with a 3.38 GAA and .874 save percentage. He’s grown from that experience and honed his game with his new teammates and coaches.

“I learned a lot this year, especially through Pods [Poderzay],” Souliere said. “I give him a lot of credit, and he doesn’t really want to take it, but he’s opened my eyes to certain tendencies that I had.”

He’s also learned to embrace the opportunity he’s earned with the Gophers.

“I love the game more than I’ve ever loved it, and I owe it to this place,” Souliere said. “It’s really brought my love for the game back, and I’m super-grateful for that. … I’m just trying to soak it in, and I don’t think that I did a good job of that my senior year when my expectations were to move on [to pro hockey], and it didn’t happen.

“So, now I’m back, and I’m just making sure that in my second chance at a last chance, I take all those moments in.”

6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday at Yost Ice Arena

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Radio: 100.3-FM Friday and 103.5-FM both days

The Gophers (21-6-3, 12-4-2 Big Ten) sit No. 3 in the PairWise Ratings and second in the conference, five points behind Michigan State. The Gophers have two games in hand on the Spartans. Hobey Baker Award candidate Jimmy Snuggerud (20 goals, 21 assists) is tied for second nationally with 41 points. Connor Kurth leads the nation in plus/minus at plus-28. ... Michigan (16-12-2, 10-9-1) is No. 12 in the PairWise rankings. The Wolverines lost 6-0 and 2-0 to the Gophers in early December. T.J. Hughes (13-20-33) and Michael Hage (12-18-30) are Michigan’s top scorers.