“It’s always nice to get something like a hat trick, but winning the game was huge for us,” said Romani. “It was a close game. We took the lead pretty early, and then they came back. They got the place buzzing a bit with the student section, and you could feel the tension there. So, it was nice to come up with that win, because that was huge for us in the standings.”
The Spartans hold a 21-5-0 record this season and are currently ranked second in the USCHO poll. The only team to top them in the ranking is their rival, the Michigan Wolverines.
Lucky for Romani and his Spartans, the two Michigan schools will face each other in a pair of games this coming weekend.
“I got the experience the first time we played Michigan back in December. You can see how both schools get all hyped up for the game, and it’s super exciting. I know no one in our room likes anyone on their team, and I’m sure they don’t like us as well. We’re all pumped for the game, and playing the second game this weekend at the Detroit Red Wings’ rink will be pretty cool as well.”
Romani has 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points this season through 26 games and feels that the tougher competition he is facing in the NCAA is growing his game and is helping prepare him for the jump to the pros in the coming years.
“It’s harder hockey, and there’s always going to be adjustments when you go up a level,” said Romani. “In terms of my development, being here in the NCAA has been great. I’ve gotten a lot faster and stronger being here. With fewer games, you have more time to train off the ice.”
On top of the added training time, Romani is growing his game with the iron-sharpening-iron mentality that his group has in practice.
Romani is one of the 14 players on the Spartans roster who have been drafted by an NHL team. Nine of those players were selected in the top 50 picks of their draft year, and two were selected in the top six: Cayden Lindstrom went fourth overall in 2024, and Porter Martone went sixth overall in 2025.
Romani has worked closely with Mikael Samuelsson and Mike Komisarek on his development, and a big focus for him is continuing to build his speed so it can be one of his biggest strengths when he reaches the pro level.
The pace of the game is what Romani took away from his training camp experience with the Canucks, and he is now hyper-focused on that being a part of his game that he continuously improves.
This upcoming weekend will be another big one for Romani and his Spartans, as they look to overtake the Wolverines in the NCAA rankings.
“These two games coming up will be really important. After that, we have six more regular-season games. We are just trying to close that out, win the Big-10 regular season, and then the Big-10 playoffs. Then, there’s the Frozen Four and all that, I mean, we have a lot of goals for a team. I think we have a team that can win it all. So, we’re going day by day, trying to get better each day, and not looking too far ahead of ourselves right now.”
It’s been a great start to Romani’s freshman season, and he is continuing to grow his game with the strong support that he is receiving from the Spartans’ staff and amenities. He took a leap going into the NCAA this season, and the early returns are paying off for the Canucks’ draft pick.
