ORONO, Maine — Freshman goalie Sean Romeo was one of the few bright spots over the weekend as the University of Vermont swept the University of Maine men’s hockey team 6-3 and 4-1.
After making seven saves on eight shots in relief of Matt Morris in the third period of Friday’s loss, Romeo made a career-high 40 saves and allowed three goals in Saturday’s setback. He finished with 19 saves on Grade-A (high-percentage) shots.
The Cary, North Carolina, native stopped 24 of 25 Vermont shots on the power play.
“Sean was great. He kept us in it,” Maine junior captain Devin Shore said. “We didn’t lose because of him. None of the goals were his fault. It’s too bad we couldn’t get the win for him.”
“He played real well,” Maine coach Red Gendron said with UVM coach Kevin Sneddon in agreement.
Goaltending was the team’s biggest question mark entering the season. Junior Matt Morris played in only six games as a freshman and missed all of last season after having hip surgery.
Romeo and Nik Nugnes are freshmen. Nugnes has yet to play. Bangor’s Chris Howat is the No. 4 goalie.
“I’m not down on how I played, but we didn’t get the win and I’m never happy with that,” said Romeo, who appears to have won the starting job — though Gendron doesn’t comment on his goaltending situation.
“I think I’m making progress,” Romeo continued. “I’m getting a little better every day. But you can never be satisfied. You’re never where you want to be. But I’m definitely taking steps to get there.”
Romeo is 1-7 with a 3.22 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. Over his last six appearances, he has a 3.00 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
In his last four appearances, he has a 4.45 GAA and an .845 save percentage. Overall, he is 2-4-1 with a 3.43 GAA and a .886 save percentage.
Maine has an overall GAA of 3.62 and a save percentage of .883 while opposing goalies have a 2.11 GAA vs. the Black Bears and a .927 save percentage.
“I have to work harder,” said Morris. “The team needs to get better goaltending from me. I have been letting up too many goals that I wanted to have back. That is an issue for a goalie. Sean has been playing great.”
He said Vermont’s third goal Friday night, Mario Puskarich’s wrister from the left circle off a 2-on-1, and the game-winner by Michael Paliotta, on a one-timer from the point, should have been saved.
“I definitely want the third one back and, on the fourth one, (defenseman Eric Schurhamer) was in my way, but I still have to find the puck and make that save. I have to bear down and make those saves for my teammates,” Morris said.
“When things aren’t going your way, you have to dig down deep. You can’t feel sorry for yourself,” he continued. “Sometimes, when you aren’t winning, you start over-thinking. I can’t over-think. I just have to go out and compete. That’s all I can do.”
Romeo said he intends to keep working hard to improve.
“I’m going to work on the same stuff: skating drills, battling and competing for the puck, my sight line, watching the puck, rebounds — all the fundamentals,” Romeo said.
“The goalies are keeping us in position to win every game,” Shore said. “They’re working their butts off, and that’s all we can ask of them. They’re getting better every day. Goalies are a huge part of the team and, at the same time, they’re only one part of the team. We have to play good hockey in front of them.”