UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- It's a new era for Penn State goaltending, and freshman Liam Soulière will look to make a positive impact however he can.
The departure of Peyton Jones '20 has left a void in the Nittany Lion net for the first time in four years. Soulière and junior Oskar Autio are working together to fill that void. Regardless of what role Soulière will be asked to fulfill, he is up for the challenge.
In addition, Soulière is adjusting to college both on and off the ice. He is older than most freshmen at 21 years old, so it's been a while since Soulière has taken classes, that, in itself, presents another challenge. On the ice, adjusting from juniors has him seeing the game a different way.
"Once you get into college, it's a different game," Soulière said. "Whether you're coming in at 18 or 21 it's going to be an adjustment."
Soulière spent last season with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL. Following an injury, he returned and went 9-6-0, with a 3.37 GAA and .917 save percentage. Prior to that, Soulière won CCHL Goaltender of the Year with the Brockville Braves, the same junior team former Nittany Lion Liam Folkes '20 was a member of.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began to make an impact in March, Soulière had just lost in the first round of the BCHL playoffs with the Grizzlies. He spent the next two-and-a-half days driving across Canada from Victoria to Montreal.
Over the summer Soulière continued to stay in shape. He worked out and eventually was able to get into a rink four days per week. Golf was paired with those activities to keep him busy. Now, with the season approaching, he is ready to get to work.
Early this fall, Soulière worked with mostly his fellow freshmen. Now, as Penn State has grown their practice groups, he has had the chance to watch how the older guys play.
"Practicing with freshmen is not like practicing with upperclassmen," Soulière said. "Those guys have been there and done that, you learn a lot."
One of the bigger differences Soulière pointed out between junior hockey and college is the rate at which players complete tough plays. Knowing that, Soulière is going to have to be more on his toes in net.
In practice, he would see a great cross-ice pass lead to a scoring chance only a handful of times the past few seasons. Now, Soulière understands that is not going to be an exception anymore as plays like that are made day-in and day-out.
"You have to expect the perfect shot and the perfect pass because guys at this level can do it routinely," Soulière said.
There is a lot less margin for error as well. It may be okay to be an inch off your angles at lower levels, but in the Big Ten, players will take advantage of it.
There were a lot of things that attracted Soulière to Penn State. He loves the connection Guy Gadowsky makes with his team, as well as the style of play the team has on the ice. Soulière added that he knew right away Penn State was the place he wanted to call home.
"When I got off the plane [on my visit] here and drove through campus, I couldn't imagine myself being anywhere else," Soulière said. "This is like a dream come true to be at a school like Penn State."
Now, Soulière is working hard to instill trust in his coaches and teammates. His main goal is to prove he can be consistent in net. Soulière wants his teammates to trust that they can go hard on offense and know he is back there to back them up no matter what.
"If you can show up every day and do it at a high level, then it'll instill confidence in the coaching staff and players around me," Soulière said.
Ultimately, he isn't worried about personal stats, aside from wins. Soulière would much rather win a high scoring game than lose a pitcher's duel. At the end of the day, that is a perfect example of his team first attitude, which will go a long way in helping him make an impact in net for the Nittany Lions.
