Gophers men's hockey coach Bob Motzko knew he had big skates to fill with goalie Justen Close, the team's starter the past 2½ seasons, exhausting his eligibility. On Wednesday, Motzko added some experience to his goalie group for the 2024-25 season.

Liam Souliere, who has been Penn State's primary starter over the past two seasons and has played in 85 career games, announced on Instagram that he is transferring to Minnesota. The 25-year-old Brampton, Ontario, native will have one year of eligibility remaining.

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Souliere, 5-11 and 181 pounds, gives Motzko an option in goal along with Nathan Airey, who backed up Close as a freshman in the 2023-24 season. Sophomore Zach Weise was the Gophers' third-string goalie this season.

Airey went 1-1 with a 3.23 goals-against average and .865 save percentage in three games this season. Souliere was 19-15-1 with a 2.43 GAA and .917 save percentage as the Nittany Lions went 22-16-1 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in 2022-23. This season, he slumped to 12-14-1 with a 3.38 GAA and .874 save percentage on a team that went 15-18-3.