Sean Romeo, the former Ohio State men’s hockey goalie and Blue Jackets development camp invitee, has died at 31.
Ohio State announced that Romeo passed away on Saturday after suffering a stroke on October 15th. The release also noted that he was an organ donor. According to the university, he donated “his heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys to give others a second chance at life.”
Romeo spent three seasons with the Buckeyes from 2016-19 and left his mark on both sides of the game. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance in Spring 2019, helped Ohio State reach the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four and win the 2019 Big Ten Championship, and collected the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest grade-point average among student-athletes at the 2018 Frozen Four.
He was also a Senior CLASS Award Top 15 candidate in 2019, a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete, and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
On the ice, Romeo’s Ohio State run came after two years at Maine and a season spent sitting out in 2016-17 under NCAA transfer rules. Once he got to play, he quickly became one of the program’s most notable goaltenders.
He earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors and became the first Buckeye to be named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist. He was also named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional after helping push Ohio State to its first NCAA semifinal trip since 1998.
His résumé in Columbus was packed with hardware and records. Romeo was a seven-time Big Ten Star of the Week, set the school shutout streak mark at 204:27 in November 2018, and became the first goalie in program history to post shutouts in three consecutive starts. He finished his career fourth in program history in goals-against average at 2.22, tied for fourth in save percentage at .919, and tied for fifth with five shutouts.
His 2018 season was especially strong. Romeo won 22 games that year, a total tied for second in a single Ohio State season, while his 2.06 goals-against average and .927 save percentage both ranked fourth all-time in program history.
In two seasons at Ohio State, he went 30-17-7.
THN-Columbus sends its condolences to the Romeo family.
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