ORONO, Maine — Freshman Sean Romeo and sophomore Matt Morris shared the goaltending for the University of Maine men’s hockey team last winter with Romeo appearing in 23 games and Morris seeing action in 20.
Romeo has yet to start a game this season with Morris and freshman Rob McGovern handling the chores and, after making 21 saves on 23 shots after spelling Morris in a 7-0 loss to New Hampshire on Wednesday, Romeo is hoping he will get his first start this weekend when Maine entertains ECAC team Colgate University for a pair.
Morris allowed five goals on 16 shots in 27 minutes, 10 seconds against New Hampshire, and McGovern gave up nine goals on 62 shots in the two previous games, both against UNH.
Morris had allowed three goals on 36 shots in a 3-3 overtime tie with UNH that kicked off the string of four consecutive games against their Hockey East rivals.
McGovern and Morris had been giving the Black Bears solid goaltending.
McGovern held opponents to two goals or less six times in seven starts during one stretch, and Morris has limited opponents to three goals or less in seven of his nine starts. Morris has a 4-3-2 record with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, and McGovern is 0-8-2, 2.91 and .908.
In his two relief appearances, Romeo has allowed two goals on 30 shots spanning 52:49.
“I’m ready to play,” said Romeo, who had a 3.04 GAA and a .902 save percentage a year ago. “I’ve felt great all year. I’ve just been waiting for my chance.
“I’m working as hard as I can every day in practice to show coach [Red Gendron] I’m ready for my chance,” he added.
The UNH game was his first appearance since Oct. 20 when he stopped all seven shots he faced in the third period of a 4-0 loss at Quinnipiac.
“It definitely got me in the swing of things. I was a little uncomfortable the first minute or two, but once I got my legs underneath me, I felt real good,” said Romeo.
Morris said he isn’t going to dwell on his UNH performance or let it damage his confidence.
“I’m fine. It was a bad game. I’m just going to move on,” said Morris. “I’m going to work on my rebounds and make sure my angles are on.”
McGovern said he has been doing a “few different things, technique-wise” to round back into form.
“It has been a little tough. It might be a little time before I get real comfortable with [the techniques], but they are definitely making me better, so I’m going to stick with them,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting back on track and playing some better games.”
He is going to use practice to restore his confidence.
“That’s where it all starts. You get your confidence in practice, and it carries over into games,” said McGovern. “Things have been going well.”
Gendron said he will “evaluate the goalies in practice” before deciding who will play this weekend.
The players are confident in all three goalies.
“They’re all strong goalies. They can all do the job. But we definitely need to play much better in front of them,” said sophomore center Cedric Lacroix.