ECHL mourns loss of Sean Romeo

The ECHL and its member teams mourn the loss and express their condolences to the family and friends of former ECHL player Sean Romeo, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 31.

Romeo was an organ donor, donating his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to give others a second chance at life. He passed away from complications of a stroke first suffered Oct. 15.

He spent his entire 30-game professional career in the ECHL, suiting up with Cincinnati, Florida, Adirondack, Norfolk, Indy, South Carolina and Kansas City.

Prior to turning pro, he played collegiately at the University of Maine and Ohio State University. In 2017-18, he earned Second Team All-Big Ten accolades and was the first Buckeye to be named a Mike Richter Award semifinalist. He was selected the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Midwest Regional, as he backstopped the Buckeyes to the first NCAA semifinal trip since 1998. Romeo set the school-record shutout streak (204:27) in November 2018. He was the first goalie in program history to record shutouts in three straight starts and ended his career fourth in program history in career goals-against average (2.22), tied for fourth in career save percentage (.919) and tied for fifth with five career shutouts. His 22 wins in 2018 are tied for second for a single season in Ohio State history, while his 2.06 goals-against average and .927 save percentage that year ranked fourth all-time.

Romeo earned his bachelor's degree in finance at Ohio State in Spring 2019. He was part of the Buckeyes' 2018 NCAA Frozen Four team and 2019 Big Ten Championship squad. He earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award with the highest grade-point average among student-athletes at the 2018 Frozen Four. He was a Senior CLASS Award Top 15 candidate in 2019, a three-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

A celebration of Romeo's life will be held on Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, located at 804 High House Road, in Cary, North Carolina.