Mass. high school hockey player collapses at center ice during huddle after practice, dies

Mass. high school hockey player collapses, dies

HAVERHILL, Mass. — A Massachusetts high school ice hockey player has collapsed after practice and died.

Seventeen-year-old Matthew McCarthy was a captain on a Pentucket Regional High School team doing non-contact drills Tuesday on the ice at a rink in Haverhill (HAYV’-ril), a city in the northeastern part of the state. McCarthy was from a small neighboring town called Merrimac.

Police say after practice the team had gathered at center ice to talk with the coach when the player collapsed.

Lt. Joseph Florent says the teenager was treated at the rink before being taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He says there’s no indication foul play was involved in the death.

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday to try to determine what killed the boy.