Sean Romeo, the former Ohio State goaltender who also had a Blue Jackets development camp invitation on his résumé, has died at 31.
Ohio State said Romeo suffered a stroke on October 15 and passed away on Saturday. The university also said he was an organ donor, and that he donated his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys.
Romeo left behind a strong legacy in Columbus, both for what he did on the ice and what he accomplished in the classroom. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Ohio State in Spring 2019, was part of the Buckeyes’ 2018 NCAA Frozen Four team and the 2019 Big Ten Championship squad, and picked up the NCAA Elite 90 Award for posting the highest grade-point average among student-athletes at the 2018 Frozen Four.
His academic honors kept piling up from there. Romeo was a Senior CLASS Award Top 15 candidate in 2019, a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
On the ice, his Buckeye run was loaded with milestones. After two years at Maine, Romeo transferred to Ohio State and sat out the 2016-17 season to meet NCAA transfer rules at the time.
He then earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors and became the first Buckeye ever named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist. He was also the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional after helping Ohio State reach its first NCAA semifinal since 1998.
Romeo was a seven-time Big Ten Star of the Week and set the school-record shutout streak at 204:27 in November 2018. He became the first goalie in program history to post shutouts in three straight starts, and he finished his career ranked among the program leaders in several categories: fourth in career goals-against average at 2.22, tied for fourth in career save percentage at .919, and tied for fifth with five career shutouts.
In 2018, he won 22 games, which is tied for second-most in a single season in Ohio State history. That same year, his 2.06 goals-against average and .927 save percentage both ranked fourth all-time at the school.
In two seasons at Ohio State, Romeo went 30-17-7.
THN-Columbus sends its condolences to the Romeo family.
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