The University of Maine men’s hockey team’s overloaded goalie position has gotten a little less crowded.
Black Bears sophomore goalie Sean Romeo has transferred to Big Ten school Ohio State University.
He is among OSU’s seven new players.
According to NCAA transfer rules, Romeo will have to sit out next season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining when he becomes eligible at the outset of the 2017-18 season.
Romeo was the odd man out for the Black Bears last season, appearing in only two games while backing up redshirt senior Matt Morris and freshman Rob McGovern.
Morris and McGovern both return, and UMaine has added two new goalies in 6-foot-8 Stephen Mundinger and with Tyler Johnson.
Johnson’s immediate eligibility is in question because he played 10 minutes of a game in the Ontario (Major Junior) Junior Hockey League for the Plymouth Whalers.
Major Junior teams are considered professional teams by the NCAA because the players receive financial stipends.
Romeo, a native of Cary, North Carolina, posted a 2.27 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage covering just 52 minutes and 49 seconds last season.
Two years ago, he shared the goaltending with Morris and registered a 3.04 GAA and a .902 save percentage to go with a 7-13-1 record.
Romeo appeared in two Hockey East playoff games in 2014-15, beating Vermont 4-2 behind a 21-save performance in game two of their best-of-three, first-round series and then making 27 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss in game three.
He decided to transfer in order to get more opportunity to play.
“It wasn’t the year I had hoped to have,” said Romeo. “I don’t know happened. It was coach’s [Red Gendron] call and he decided not to play me. That was that.”
Romeo, who was recruited by former Maine coach Tim Whitehead and his coaching staff, wound up visiting Ohio State and said it was “the best fit for me.
“I loved the coaches and the school,” he said.
Gendron called Romeo “a great human being, a great student and a very good player.
“I wish him the best of luck,” added Gendron.
Romeo was a scholarship player at Maine and said he will be getting scholarship money from Ohio State but preferred not to discuss the terms of the arrangement.
Romeo came to the Black Bears from the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League, where he compiled a 3.42 GAA and a .891 save percentage in 30 games.
Morris appeared in 23 games for UMaine last season and had a 3.54 GAA to go with a .901 save percentage and 6-10-3 record. McGovern had a 2.78 GAA and a .905 save percentage along with a 2-14-3 record.
The 6-4 McGovern appeared in 20 contests.