Penn State men’s hockey was nursing a 3-2 lead early in the third period when Ohio State’s Max Montes found himself alone in front of Nittany Lion netminder Liam Souliere.

Montes’ shot went off the blocker of Souliere and ricocheted to the opposite side of the crease and the waiting stick of another Buckeye. Souliere dove for the right side of the crease and kicked out his leg to deny the one-timer and preserve the slim lead with an athletic display.

The Roar Zone exploded and chants of “SOU” rang through the sold-out arena as the crowd reached a deafening crescendo.

The Roar Zone’s reminder of its unwavering support came amid a tough stretch for the Nittany Lion goaltender. It was the first time in a long time that Souliere injected the crowd with a shot of energy, something that felt like it happened nearly every game last year.

“It’s the best student section in the country and the fact that they’re behind me after a tough season is really special,” Souliere said. “I hold it dear to my heart.”

After the Nittany Lions’ comeback win over Army in early January, head coach Guy Gadowsky criticized the goaltending, noting his team had the worst save percentage in the nation at that time. Gadowsky also held a meeting with the goaltenders to talk about the state of the room ahead of a tough stretch of Big Ten play. The message hit home, and the goalies committed to improving.

“It’s about being able to look in the mirror and understand what you’ve been doing right and what you’ve been doing wrong,” Souliere said. “You take it like a man, you realize what they’re saying is true, and you get back to work.”

The slump came with a daunting schedule ahead, and the next weekend ended with back-to-back losses to Michigan State by a combined score of 12-3.

Things started to look up for Souliere and the goaltending room when the Nittany Lions were swept by Notre Dame, but goaltending didn’t serve as the difference maker. Gadowsky wouldn’t say that Souliere was back, but he was happy with the senior’s performance. The Saturday loss resonated with Gadowsky enough to give Souliere the start over sophomore Noah Grannan for both games in the next series against the Buckeyes, breaking the pattern of one game for each goalie.

Souliere opened the weekend with a .857 save percentage en route to a 4-3 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak for the blue and white. The senior followed up the Friday-night performance with a Saturday-night victory and a .906 save percentage, his best mark since a shootout win over Notre Dame on November 5.

“We had some of our best and consistent goaltending over both nights, and you need it in this league,” Gadowsky said. “I’ve said it many times, but you will not win in this league with good goaltending. You need great goaltending.”

That performance was on January 27, and the Nittany Lions moved into their bye week with a lot of momentum. Penn State used the bye week to continue to hone in on special teams and other areas of the game Gadowsky believes need improvement but also used the off week to host its second-annual Sled Hockey Classic. Souliere enjoyed “being careless with the puck” while playing as an attacker in the scrimmage, but he’s still ready to pick up where he left off and head to Minnesota.

“I think it carries over,” Souliere said. “You get that familiar feeling when you finally get back on the ice.”

Gadowsky announced Souliere will play on Friday in Minnesota but declined to say if he was going to break his pattern again and start the senior both nights. No matter how it shakes out, Souliere is excited to be making progress on rebuilding his confidence while being able to carry it into the next matchup. This week, though, he won’t have the Roar Zone to congratulate him.

“Overall, noise is noise,” Souliere said. “An empty rink is worse than a packed rink.”