At the conclusion of last season, there was some question as to whether or not Paul Karus, the No. 1 goalie for the ISU hockey team would return for his final year of eligibility.

With the new season approaching and the first exhibition games against the Huntsville Havoc set for Sept. 14, ISU coach Al Murdoch said Karus has been at all of the team meetings so far, and Karus said he will rejoin the Cyclones for his final year of eligibility.

“As a collective group between me and my family and talking to others, I thought coming back would be the best bet,” Karus said. “And plus, I get another year to play with the guys. The guys are awesome, so you know, I couldn’t pass that up for a year.”

Karus said he has changed majors several times at Iowa State to make time for hockey but he is “90 percent sure” he will finish with a major in landscape design and a minor in turf grass management. He is 23 credits away from getting his degree.

To go along with his interest in the horticulture department at Iowa State, Karus said he does landscaping in the summer and it helps him keep in shape for hockey season.

Last season, Karus appeared in 26 games and posted a record of 16-8-2 (one shutout) en route to an American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament appearance where the Cyclones were ousted by Oklahoma in the first round in an 8-2 loss.

He allowed 2.51 goals per game on average throughout the season and had a save percentage of .920, according to achahockey.org.

“I think he’s a great returning veteran,” Murdoch said. “I think we’ve got about 20 players that have played with us before and to have that strong nucleus back is absolutely huge for the team.”

The high amount of returning players this season has Karus saying good things about his expectations for this season.

“Last year was a great year: We had a lot of wins; we had a lot of progress, everybody played outstanding,” Karus said. “This year, the way we progressed with our offseason workouts and at the end of last year, with those workouts too, this year will be another very good year.”