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.