Shakopee High hockey player mourned following death from December crash

It was a somber scene at the Shakopee Ice Arena Thursday night as friends and former teammates of Mikayla McCarvel mourned the 18-year-old hockey player who died weeks after she was injured in a car crash.

Several hundred people filled the arena bleachers for Shakopee High School’s match versus Eastview. Some wiped away tears as McCarvel’s teammate Lily Schuetz read a remembrance by senior players before the game.

“There is no doubt that Mikayla would light up a room when she entered,” Schuetz read. She said McCarvel had an “adventurous, go-getter spirit.”

Before the game, 17-year-old Amalia Lee, a friend of McCarvel, said it has been a difficult week at Shakopee High School.

“Everyone is kind of struggling right now,” said Lee, who had been on a soccer team with McCarvel years ago.

Lee said McCarvel was the “funniest person ever,” and that she always knew how to make someone laugh.

McCarvel was injured in a two-vehicle crash shortly after 8 p.m. on Dec. 26 at the intersection of County Road 21 and Tintaocanku.

McCarvel and three other 17-year-olds, all from Shakopee, were heading east on Tintaocanku in a compact car when they were hit by a driver heading south on County Road 21 in a midsize sedan. The driver of the car McCarvel was in failed to stop at a stop sign and was struck by the larger vehicle, which had the right of way, police said.

McCarvel died Tuesday night at HCMC from her injuries. She turned 18 two days before her death.

Before Thursday night’s game, the crowd held a moment of silence. A saxophone ensemble that McCarvel had been a member of performed the National Anthem.

Several former coaches of McCarvel attended the Thursday night game. Terry Gaulrapp, who coached her several years ago, described her as a “good leader and a kind soul.”

“She was the nicest, most coachable teammate ever,” Gaulrapp said.