A lawyer for the family of an Arizona State University hockey player who collapsed into a coma after an outside workout said the school was failing to properly investigate what happened when an ex-Green Beret led the team in "grueling" drills.
Robert Carey said 21-year-old defenseman Matthew Mayich has "zero chance of recovery," and his family had no faith the university would conduct a complete and impartial inquiry.
ASU has pushed an unofficial narrative about "how minimal, how soft and how easy" the workout was while players and others have privately reported it as being "unbearably hard," he said.
"My investigation shows the storyline is completely false," Carey told The Arizona Republic on Aug. 31. "This case has shattered (Mayich's) life.
He deserves, and his family deserves, a proper investigation."
The 50-minute workout began in the early morning of Aug. 20, the first day of classes for the fall semester. Tempe Fire Medical Rescue crews responded at 8:30 a.m. to ASU's Joe Selleh Track for calls of a heat-related illness. The temperature at the time was between 87 and 89 degrees.
Mayich was taken to local hospitals and later transferred to Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, where he has remained with his family at his side.
Carey said he has interviewed multiple players and has learned they were forced to go through a series of intensive workouts without standard breaks while the ex-soldier "yelled at them from the get-go ... like a dril instructor."
Players were told not to complain; water was available only to those who led exercises and little was left for those who trailed, Carey said.
Mayich showed obvious signs of distress and was unable to complete tasks as the workout progressed, Carey said.
"He was disoriented and struggled well before he collapsed," he said.
The university has allowed coaches and team staff to remain in their roles overseeing players, who fear retaliation, such as the loss of scholarships or positions, if they speak out, Carey said. No effort has been made to sequester the hockey players from the coaching staff who oversaw the workout, he said.
The coaching staff needs to be suspended or put on administrative leave so investigators can get the truth from players, Carey said.
ASU officials declined comment on Carey's allegations. The university promised a thorough review in an Aug. 25 statement after The Republic first identified Mayich.
ASU "is reviewing everything surrounding the workout," Chris Fiscus, ASU vice president of media relations, told The Republic.
Ex-Green Beret disputes intensity of the workout
The retired Special Forces veteran who led the workout gave a vastly different account of the workout, which his lawyer described as mid-level intensity similar to any high-school football team conditioning routine.
Tim Ziesel volunteered to lead the workout at the request of hockey coach Greg Powers, something he has done for years at another college.
The Republic was the first to identify and interview Ziesel. He said he left the workout before Mayich collapsed at the track.
Ziesel's attorney, Buddy Rake of Phoenix, denied the workout was extreme and said it resembled a military exercise only in candence and team-building.
"This was not a Green Beret or SEAL workout. Far from it," Rake said in an Aug 27 interview. "The head coach, assistant coaches and medical were always present."
Ziesel was on day one of a planned three-day routine. He ran ASU hockey players through 45-50 minutes of sprints, push-ups and flutter kicks. He also had them lift and carry teammates, Rake said. Later exercises included running with medicine balls, but Ziesel was gone before players finished, he said.
Ziesel's description was the first public account from anyone leading activities on the field the day Mayich collapsed. For five years, he has led routines for athletes at Arizona Christian University. Social posts from the men's basketball team in 2022 thanked Ziesel for lessons on being "men of character, meekness, and integrity."
Ziesel referred questions about Mayich to ASU's Athletic Department. But Rake said no university official has talked to Ziesel since the incident, including coaches or Athletic Department staff.
"Obviously, he is devastated by what's happened to this kid," Rake said. "This is a horrible event that should be thoroughly and objectively investigated."
Ziesel is willing to meet with Mayich's parents, Rake said.
No confidence in impartiality of investigation, attorney says
University officials have declined repeatedly to talk about the workout routine or Ziesel's role in it. Powers and a team trainer have not responded to requests for comment.
Mayich, a sophomore defenseman from Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, near Hamilton, was in his first year in the program. He was drafted in 2023 by the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League team.
Mayich was part of a 2026 ASU transfer portal class that ranked first in the country. He appeared in 34 games, tallying seven goals and eight assists in his freshman season at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
Before playing at Clarkson, Mayich spent four years with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League, appearing in more than 250 games, scoring 106 points over his career. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round (No. 170 overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Drafted players retain their college status while NHL teams hold their exclusive signing rights.
ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini has declined comment to The Republic. On Aug. 28, he downplayed the university's investigation on the Burns and Gambo Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
“This is not an investigation where somebody’s suggesting something went wrong. We’re just reviewing the facts and understanding the scenario," he said.
Carey said ASU senior vice president James Rund was leading the investigation, and he had no confidence it would be conducted impartially.
He said his firm would not stop until it forced the disclosure of all emails, texts and videos related to Mayich's collapse, including ones that were altered or erased.
Carey is a former deputy chief at the Arizona Attorney General's Office who earned his bachelor's degree from ASU. A partner at Hagens Berman, a national class-action law firm, he has handled multiple lawsuits involving universities, including ASU.
He said he was surprised the Mayich case hasn't generated more community outrage, which he attributed to ASU's public posturing.
"The president of the university needs to put out the truth," he said.
Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lawyer slams ASU investigation into hockey player collapse
