Isaac, I agree that the coach should have benched Lambert after her multiple aggresive acts. But it is important to remember, that much like the referee, the coach doesn’t always see everything that happens on the field. Being that it took a while for Lambert to even recieve a yellow card, it is difficult for a coach to decide to bench a player who is having an impact on the game. Also, even if a coach does encourage physical play, it is not the coach who is on the field doing the acts, and I have never heard of a coach telling his or her players to do anything close to Lambert’s level of aggresiveness. Lambert is old enough and has been playing soccer long enough to take responsibility of her own actions (which she has.) In the end it is the player who was out of control, regardless of what the coach may or may not have said prior to the game.

Isaac. You said it better than anyone has. Kit Vela likes her players aggressive like many college soccer coaches do. Vela does see what goes on in these games and she does encourage all of it. I have witnessed it first hand. But she will throw her players under the bus. She is paid to wim games

Here are some keys to understanding Lamberts thuggery:
1. there are at least 4 officials on the field who should have caught the violent behavior.
2. there are at least 10 coaches on the two teams who could have put a stop to it.
3. there were 10 other UNM players on the field who could have exercised adult supervision.THEY CHOSE TO TRY TO WIN AT ANY COST!
4. I am sure the AD was represented at the game. same story WIN!
5. lambert chose to repeatedly violate the spirit of the game in a violent manner with intent to “send a message”
6. the unm coach needs help to face the facts and change her tactics!
7. check this teams cards over the season…aggressive!

The lame “apology” of Lambert’s is woefully inadequate. This was a shameless intentional foul, and it highlighted the university in the worst possible way on national media. College is to teach more than just academics, otherwise a trade school would suffice. Values matter, ethics matters, professionalism matters. Unless and until this major negative is turned into a positive by making an example of the offender, closure will never take place. The media will stalk NMU at every event, nor reporting sports but reporting the appropriateness of the school’s response. Govern yourself accordingly, NMU.

ha ha. Isaac…it’s so funny to go from having a high school class with you, where you were relatively quiet, to being the opinionated sports columnist. Keep up the dopeness. Love your writing man.

Excusing Lambert’s behavior in the first few lines of this article ignores the fact that, ultimately, it is LAMBERT who REPEATEDLY engaged in all of the conduct shown on the videotape. The coach may also have culpability, but in the end it is the athlete who agrees to behave in that way. Perhaps the best way to look at it is that the coaching staff allowed Lambert to show her true colors.

If you look at the tape you she she was elbowed first, punched first, grabbed first. Does this justify a hair yank to the ground, no. Does this justify a game suspension, maybe. Does this justify the whole world wanting her head on a platter, NO!

From her bio she seems like good kid. I’d want her on my team any day….

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I went to UNM in 1970’s. Lobo sport teams always have been and always will be L-O-S-E-R-S.

First: her actions were out of line. There is a difference between being aggressive in a physical game like soccer and resorting to cheap shots when you can’t ge the job done any other way. Being on the losing end of a game does NOT justify losing self-control and turning to MMA style moves to try to gain a competitive edge on the other team. Yes the one girl did give her an elbow, however, possibly to get Lambert off her back. And 21 did give her shorts a little tug, but did not throw her to the ground by her shorts. Lambert’s actions were out of control, showing she was frustrated and knew she was not going to be able to compete adequately in a fair manner.

Second:The “responsible adults” present all did fail. The repeated cheap shot actions from Lambert throughout the game and all she received was a yellow card? Really, come on officials. And as for the UNM coaches…allowing her to continue to remain in the game cheap shot after cheap shot says something about what is being coached in the program (and its not good).

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You have hit the nail on the head regarding the coaches but it goes a bit further than this.

Every action has an equal & opposite reaction. I don’t condone Ms. Lamberts response to the fouls against her and her team but she is not alone in the blame. There is plenty to go around – the coaches yes but also the refs who lost control of the game & didn’t call obvious fouls on both teams.

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I have been disappointed by the number of people that have sought to justify Lambert’s actions. We’ve seen nothing that would excuse repeadly kicking a player that’s down, punching a player’s throat, and violently dragging another player to the ground by her hair.

As for her coach, surely she should be disciplined for allowing Lambert to engage in behavior that was clearly intended to inflict injury.

i bet this elizabeth lambert is real enthusiastic in bed.
playboy should get her to pose nude.

What would this crazy bitch do if her bf cheats on her?
kill the other woman?

Shouldn’t know you a LITTLE bit about SPORTS to write and ARTICLE about SPORTS? Did this person even watch the whole game, or like the rest of country, watch the whole 3 minutes on the biased ESPN?

This game was out of control the FIRST time they played, the second time it continued. The BYU girls taunted many of the UNM players, and not only laughed after they fouled many of the players, but fouled them on purpose, just as Ms. Lambert did. Lambert was elbowed, had her women parts grabbed, had her shirt pulled up almost all the way, taunted, laughed at, ECT! I know, being a women, if someone else grabbed my women area, I probably would of responded the sameway! No one, ANY GENDER, wants their privates grabbed, ANYTIME! Watch the WHOLE 90 minutes of the game! #23 was taken out from behind(automatic yellow card), #13 was BLATANTLY pushed down with a full out straight arm, #25 was pushed down, had the back of her shirt and hair grabbed, #1(the keeper) was taken out TWICE along with all the taunting and foul mouths of the BYU girls, much of what they got, they deserved! A yellow card, if not two or three, is issued in almost EVERY game of women’s soccer. Women’s soccer is an aggressive sport, don’t like it, don’t watch! And FINALLY, no another UNM player did not PURPOSELY “boot the ball directly into the BYU player’s head”..be serious! SHE IS A DEFENDER, THE BYU GIRL FELL DOWN AS SHE KICKED THE BALL AWAY FROM THE NET, HENCE GETTING THE BALL AWAY FROM A SCORING OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A DEFENDER’S JOB IS TO CLEAR THE BALL!!! Wow, stupidity?

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YOU KNOW CAPITALISM IS FINISHED WHEN THIS GIRL IS BANNED. WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN? – HAVE A REMATCH – ON LIVE TELEVISION WITH HER PLAYING. OH YEA – HAVE TONYA HARDING IN THE STANDS AND HAVING THE CAMERAS CATCHING HER SMILING. WATCH THE RATINGS. WHAT A LOST OPPORTUNITY – MAKE SURE SOME OF THE PROCEEDS GO TO SOME CHARITY – ONE WITH THE HIGHEST OVERHEADS. OH WELL!

JDOZ

Thank you for your comments “anonymous.” I’m guessing you are either the coach herself or a teammate of Lambert’s given your clinically insance reaction to the game and the attention it has garnered.

Lambert should be kicked off the team permanently. And Vela should be fired…if this is her example of a “quality” student athlete, I’d hate to see one who lacked quality.

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Your article is spot on target. Ms. Lambert played the way she has been coached. She has accepted responsibility for her actions. But what about the UNM coaches? Vela’s post game comments incriminate her. Let’s see, when did Vela decide to do damage control and throw Liz to the media wolves? Wasn’t it after the Liz Lambert highlight reel went national Thrusday evening? Until then “trading punch for punch” was fine with Kit. Vela is trying to save her own job. Kit Vela and her assistant coach husband Jorge who focuses on the defense (hey UNM Human Resources, isn’t that nepotism?) would not pull their own player off the field to warn her to calm down and play soccer because they like “attitude” and aggressive play. If Kit and her husband did not see Lambert’s actions, then they are incompetent and should also be enrolled for the start of classes at the NM School for the Blind. What we have once again in UNM athletics is a failure of leadership. Add the Velas to the list of Locksley and Krebs. They all need to be given a bus ticket out of town and the sooner the better. President Schmidley, please clean up these leadership failures and send them packing.

this article is about Kit Vela’s responsibility in what happened. She owed it to everyone as the coach to pull this girl out until she settled down. Kit Velas would not have her players behave any other way. She says she likes them “chippy”. she likes it until the camera catches them…then she throws her players under the bus. Get rid of the coach and start over!!!

The player didn’t understand that her actions were wrong? What sort of ethics-deprived animals are being matriculated at this college? Ban the player, fire the coach.

Getting caught up in the moment? I’m sorry? Isaac, you’re a complete moron!! She appologized only after all of this public outcry. She’s a nasty thug who would never square off face to face. She did all of her attacks by blindsiding the other girls. Her whole family must be really proud of producing such pug. Are there anymore in her family? One could only hope her mother was spayed and her father neutered.

John Chaney is one of the greatest and most revered college basketball coaches in history. He’s in the Hall of Fame and has more accolades than your entire school’s athletic program combined. He is singelhandedly more important to college athletics than every person that has ever been affiliated with your entire university in its history. How dare you compare him to some unaccomplished, half-wit women’s soccer coach in New Mexico, you clown.

Elizabeth Lambert should be eliminated from the sports program and whatever she has as a college scholarship should be revoked.

There is no place in any sports program for this kind of behavior.

What goes around, comes around.

You will get what is coming to you.

What happened to personal responsibility?
Lambert committed the criminal acts not the coach. Yes, the coach’s main job is to build character and a moral code of conduct on his players but ultimately the guilt rests directly on the person that engaged in behavior that must not to be tolerated in a playing field.
If these actions had taken place in a different environment they would carry the charge of assault and battery. With video of the actual strikes so clearly depicting this despicable lack of regard for the damage done to another human being, the punishment should include fines and possibly jail. Yes, JAIL! Elizabeth you are a criminal. Football (soccer) is not the vehicle to get rid of your aggressions; have you considered joining the armed forces? Therein lies you niche. Peace and compassion for all.

It’s Vela – both of them – who should be relieved of their duties. Would you want your daughter to be coached by people who allow the behavior of Ms. Lambert? How safe is your kid if they choose to play within the rules and that is outside of the coach’s direction?

The Vela’s don’t recruit NM well at all and the women’s soccer hear is competitive regionally and nationally at the HS level, on occasion. The clubs don’t care for them because they behave the same way they have allowed Ms. Lambert to play.

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