Sean Romeo

Sean Romeo died on Saturday 24 October 2026, aged 31, from complications of a stroke he first suffered on 15 October 2026. Where he was treated and the underlying cause of the stroke have not been made public. As an organ donor, he donated his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys.

Ohio State's men's hockey program and the ECHL announced his death on 26 October, and tributes followed from USCHO, The Hockey News and others. A celebration of his life was scheduled for 11 a.m. on 9 November 2026 at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, 804 High House Road, Cary, North Carolina.

Sean Romeo was born on 7 November 1994 in Cary, North Carolina, the son of Jeffrey and Lisa Romeo. He became a goaltender almost by accident: at the age of six, playing roller hockey in North Carolina, he was put in net when his team's goalie fell ill, and the position stuck.

He continued to play up the youth ranks in the Carolinas before moving to the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League, where he spent four seasons and served as an assistant captain. He later credited his work there with goaltending coach Shane Clifford for sharpening the fundamentals of his game.

Romeo began his college career at the University of Maine. As a freshman in 2014 to 2015 he appeared in 23 games, starting 21, with a 3.04 goals against average and a .902 save percentage, and won a Hockey East playoff game against Vermont. He played only two games as a sophomore and transferred to Ohio State in 2016 in search of more playing time, sitting out the 2016 to 2017 season under NCAA transfer rules.

At Ohio State he became a standout. In 2017 to 2018 he won 22 games with a 2.06 goals against average and a .927 save percentage, earned Second Team All-Big Ten honours, became the first Buckeye named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist, and was Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional as the team reached the Frozen Four for the first time since 1998. He was a seven time Big Ten Star of the Week, set the school record shutout streak of 204:27 in November 2018, was the first goalie in program history with shutouts in three straight starts, and helped win the program's first Big Ten regular season title in 2019. He also attended the Columbus Blue Jackets development camp in 2018.

Off the ice he won the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the 2018 Frozen Four, was a three time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete, a two time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a 2019 Senior CLASS Award Top 15 candidate, and earned a bachelor's degree in finance in 2019.

He signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL after his senior season and played 30 games over the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 seasons for Cincinnati, Florida, Adirondack, Norfolk, Indy, South Carolina and Kansas City. After leaving hockey he worked in business in Chicago, then studied broadcast journalism with a minor in meteorology and a weather forecasting certificate at Penn State. In September 2026 he joined WABI-TV in Bangor, Maine, as weekend meteorologist and digital producer.

Romeo grew up in Cary, North Carolina, where his family's parish, St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, was chosen for his memorial. Coaches and teammates remembered him for pairing high level goaltending with academic excellence. When he announced his move to WABI-TV in 2026, he thanked his Penn State mentors and said it had been a very long journey to reach that point. He was a registered organ donor.

Romeo remains one of the most decorated goaltenders in Ohio State history. He holds the program's record shutout streak, finished his career fourth in goals against average (2.22), tied for fourth in save percentage (.919) and tied for fifth in shutouts, and his 22 wins in 2018 are tied for second in a single season. He was the goalie of the team that took Ohio State back to the Frozen Four after two decades and won its first Big Ten title. His organ donation, highlighted by both his former school and his former league, gave others a second chance at life.