Lobo soccer player Elizabeth Lambert snuck her attacks past officials for the majority of the game against BYU on Thursday. But what the officials missed, a national audience and nearly 3.4 million viewers on YouTube clearly saw.
Head coach Kit Vela suspended Lambert indefinitely on Friday, and the Mountain West Conference jumped into an investigation of the overall dynamics of the game after Lambert threw punches and pulled the hair of her opponents during the semifinal match in Provo, Utah.
“Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship,” Vela said.
Lambert faces a punishment from the MWC ranging from a one-game suspension to a season suspension for her first instance of physical abuse, according to the MWC handbook.
The game against BYU was the Lobos’ first nationally televised game of the season.
Lambert couldn’t have picked a worse day to act out.
She inflicted the harshest attack on BYU forward Kassidy Shumway. Lambert yanked down on Shumway’s ponytail, sending her to the turf where she lay for several seconds.
“I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions,” Lambert said in a statement Friday. “My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration.”
She let her emotions get the best of her on a second, third and fourth occasion before she was finished.
Lambert threw a punch to the back of BYU forward Carlee Payne after Payne elbowed Lambert in the stomach.
Later, Payne and Lambert exchanged blows in midair.
Finally, with four minutes left in the game, Lambert tripped a BYU player. Officials penalized Lambert with a yellow card on that play — the only penalty Lambert received. It was also the only penalty given to either team.
Lambert apologized to the BYU team, and said her actions were not indicative of her character.
Through Lambert’s 2,589 minutes on the field over three years, she has been hit with a yellow card three times — all of them in the last three weeks. She received her first in the final game of the regular season against UNLV and her second in the first round of the conference tournament against Wyoming.
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BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said the match Thursday was physical, and play is determined by what the officials will allow.
“I think that is kind of the officials’ job. They set the tone,” Rockwood said. “They are the ones that have control of the game.”
But Rockwood made it clear that she was not condoning Lambert’s actions.
“There has to be a level of sportsmanship,” Rockwood said. “(Hair pulling) is not a legal play, but there are a lot of things that go on that are missed.”
Rockwood, shying away from talking about the specific incidents, said her team managed to play on through Lambert’s actions.
“Soccer at the Division I level is very physical,” Rockwood said. “Some games are more physical than others, and like I tell my players, we just need not to react when those things happen and make sure we do the best that we can. Both Carlee and Kassidy continued on with the game and really tried hard to not let that affect their play.”
Still, Athletics Director Paul Krebs said Lambert’s actions were reprehensible.
“Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate,” Krebs said in a statement. “There is no way to defend her actions.”
A former Lobo soccer player, who played with Lambert and asked to remain nameless, said that the incidents have been over-hyped, and the majority of people don’t understand the nature of soccer.
“It is one of the bigger contact sports for women outside of rugby,” the former teammate said. “In soccer there are no instant replays or player views. And it is not that I necessarily condone what she did, but a lot of that stuff goes on, more so than people think.”
And a lot happens in the referees’ blind spots, she said, but it’s usually not broadcast.
“I don’t want to give away any tricks of the trade,” the former Lobo said. “But I think when you are out there you think ‘if the refs don’t see me, it’s not going to be a problem.’ And now the media caught her for it, and now she is paying for it.”
Lambert’s former teammate described her as a forceful player who usually has more sense.
“She is a hard hitter,” the former teammate said. “She is aggressive. She is extremely strong. And she doesn’t back down to anyone — even around teammates when we are playing against her. But she is typically really smart.”
And Thursday’s actions against BYU can’t rest solely on Lambert’s shoulders, the source said.
“(BYU) is a fun team to play against because they aren’t the cheaper of the teams and don’t take those cheap hits,” she said. “From what I have gotten from people, it was a pretty cheap game.”
