New Mexico suspends hair-pulling soccer player

OBVIOUSLY the beat writer didnt have the whole story and didnt watch the footage closely enough!
Through the whole game, the OTHER GIRL was sneakily instigating her. an elbow here, a stomped foot there, I know how annoying it can be. BUT instead of sneakily getting back, she just blew her top and fought back, and thats what everyone is seeing here.

I have seen the video, went to the teams web site and looked at her stats and some of the other players. I admit, she looks great on paper, a team captain, a consistant starter with impressive numbers. While I have never played soccer, I did letter 13 times in HS sports, wrestled for four years in the Freestyle leagues after HS, Fenced for 12 yrs acheiving a "B" rating in Epee (Olympic level fencers are usually "A"s). While there are countless oppurtunities to "push" the envelope of what is rough but acceptable play, it does boil down to the player to draw their own line. If this is her level of "fair play" then perhaps college soccer is not for her, but should be courting the pro level teams instead. I do have to agree that the Refs are part of the blame for not calling some of the infractions, Her coach for not at least making any attempt to reel her in, and then Elizabeth herself. As a captain, she was to set THE example for her team mates, I feel she may have let them down as well as herself.

Uhmmmmm, Fernando, read my post, it says that those things happen in all.....ALL truly competitive sports. Eye gouging, finger-breaking, spitting and hair pulling are not legal in ANY of the sports you mention, but they sure happen. Get off the computer, go outside, and play tackle football with the neighborhood kids, you'll see what I mean! Enough said!

By fair play, the girl from BYU that elbowed Elizabeth Lambert should've been suspended too. That's fair, really fair.

David M.
Please do us all a huge favor and read post #253. Enough said. Have a great day.

FAIR PLAY, FAIR PLAY, FAIR PLAY

All comments typical of people who have NEVER played a sport above the level of kickball in 4th grade. This happens every single day in highly competitive sports. In one part of the film, the girl she hits in the back actually elbows her in the chest FIRST! Recent outcrys about the football player from Florida poking at someones eyes is a joke too! I played college football and can tell you that happens in every single pile-up on a football field. Eyes are gouged, fingers bent back and broken, mouths torn at and faces scratched. The point is, it's normal....happens all the time. If the sports weren't so competitive, they'd be boring and nobody would watch or care. If you want to watch a "clean" game, go watch some 4 year old co-ed soccer!

Personally that girl (young woman) does not need to be around ANY sports, in any capacity. I think she pretty much dis-qualified herself.

Can she roller skate? I think she has a future in the world of roller derby because it won't be soccer. Once a dirty player, always a dirty player.

you blame the player, but you also have to suspend the refs, if they can't control the game why are they getting paided? this is when you know the refs are just there to collect a pay check whats wrong with peoples work ethic these days what a shame the girl should never play organized soccer again... black ball her!!!!! dirty players show the reflection of what they learn at home good job parents!!!!!

As a player and coach for 13 years I have found that if the ref's allow the rough play then it will get progressively more violent. The ref and 2 ars (assistant referees) should be suspended because this built up as the game was played yet nothing called until the end. If that's the best they can do then they shouldn't be in any officiating capacity ever again.

That ref needs to be removed from ever doing another game. I played and got paid. I coached. And refereed. I have never seen one player go that far and NOT get a card until much later. I love the game. But this bull needs a woman!

“This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player I am,” Lambert said in her apology.

Bull. Actions speak louder than words, and her actions clearly demonstrate the kind of player, and also the quality of her "character". She should be banned from the sport completely. And hopefully that example would have an impact on current and future players.

I enjoyed watching these highlights. LOL, I wish more soccer games were like this.

I just wanna be sure of one thing. We are all talking about an NCAA "soccer" game right? Which means we are not taking about the NFL, NHL, UFC, WWE, MLB, or any other sport in which the rules are vaslty different from what hey are in soccer.
Why people continue to compare this incident to hockey, throwball(american football), rugby, WWE, Aussie Rules, ect...... is completely out of reasoning.

Its called Association Football and it is played by following the 17 laws of the game which are established by the IFAB and enforced by FIFA. Nowhere in the 17 laws of the games does it reffer to crosschecking(hockey), face masking (Throwball "American Football"), hit by pitch(baseball), and so on and so on.

But the laws of the game do have Law 12 which covers fouls and misconduct. Elizabeth Lambert was guilty of the following infractions based on what is Law 12.
1) Kicks or attemps to kick an opponent
2)Trips or attemps to trip an opponent
3)Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
4)Tackles and opponent

According to Law 12 she should have been cautioned for:
Persistent infringement of the Laws Of the Game.

And based on Law 12 she should have been sent of for any of the following:
1)Serious foul play
2)Violent Conduct
3)Recieving a second caution in the same match*

And to those who are trying to use the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, or the Bundesliga as examples of violent play, I ask you all this. When have you seen Rio Ferdidnand pull down Didier Drogba by his hair? You who try and try to reach out to an improbable justification for her actions, but don't really put much thought into your comments, or mix in NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB your comments simply become null and void at that point.

So if you intend to defend this girl, give us more than the "well the other girl started it" claim. My stance is backed by the Laws of the Game, what is yours backed up by?
Oh yeah, the immature postings are just basically ignored by most, so if the shoe fits, no need to waste your time, Yahoo's time, or ours with you postings.

*Had the referee booked her early he would have been able to apply #3 listed above at the very least.

FAIR PLAY people FAIR PLAY, give it a chance, it works, it really really does.

BYU players throws an elbow. But if you look closely, it is in response to getting a knee to the back of her legs.

Lol, it is always funny to me when people start dissing on soccer and whether or not it is a rough sport. I wrestled, did Taekwondo tourneys, played hockey (left defense) and soccer (keeper) throughout high school and did hockey and soccer in college. While wrestling practices were uber tough, the only injuries I sustained in wrestling were a few bloody noses. In taekwondo I got a few banged up shins and some headaches, but that was it. In hockey I got a concussion, some good bruises, and a puck to the groin that made me vomit on the ice, but my pads absorbed most of the damage. In soccer I got a broken arm, lost a tooth, got two broken fingers, a concussion, tore my rotator cuff, and got stepped on and cleated more times than I can count. I did play soccer longer than the other sports, and I was a goalie, which is the roughest position IMHO, but I have to say that soccer is as rough as any sport I've played. Little side note, ice hockey was the funnest sport I've played.

Kaiser: Of course you have no real facts to support your argument. Again. Only lame sarcasm that you had to stretch on and on. Somehow you think I like softness in sports? I never said that. I love violence as much as any red-blooded american. MMA is great. I don't even agree with penalties in football for hits on 'defenseless" receivers (going high over the middle should be the offensive player's risk to me). But condoning violence that is outside of the rules of play is a completely different thing. "Just don't get caught"? Really? You obviously have no sense of sportsmanship.

Well-played soccer does not include this kind of gratuitous violence. The UNM player should be suspended because she poses a significant unpredictable and violent threat to other players, both for her violent techniques and the back-handed way in which she delivers them. She claims to have let her emotions get the best of her...the replay makes it difficult to imagine this game's dirty play was an isolated incident for her. Violence in other nonviolent sports is increasing, sadly, because many players lack impulse control, discipline, and basic respect for other people. As a former wrestler, it's not that I'm "soft" either, as Kaiser might accuse -- I had guys bite my hands and try to break my neck (literally) with illegal holds. There are always some people in sports who are so selfish and aggressive that they cross the boundaries of safety and fair play -- some behave badly enough that they need to be removed from their sport -- the UNM student is one of them.

Not too many people bothered to look at the BYU player jabbing her elbow into the NM player, thus getting the elbow to the back response.. Wonder is she(BYU) will be suspended?? Don't think so.

Chi P...LOL! It's ok. Soft is good. How's that cookie Commando? I do realize there is a big difference in being a weak pathetic keyboard Commando like myself compared to a real Boy Scout Commando like your self. Yeah, I admit. I'm clueless and dumb a real idiot really. Don't know a thing about soccer or any other sports...certainly wouldn't dare ever gaining an advantage beyond the rules in any form of competition. You know alot and you really exemplify all that is good in the world, like wishing that people who defend this girl get punched, choked etc. next time themselves. What's the name of your White Horse by the way? Chi P you are really advanced in many ways and a real trooper. Thank you for pointing out your knowledge of so much and how strong, tough and moraly superior you are on this board. You should get a big award for that. Your are really awesome. The rest of us are just so bad. I hope you have a great life hiding behind the facade of being politically correct and no one ever chokes you. You really wouldn't deserve it being so good. Wouldn't want you to get hurt either...although I'm sure you could take it, Commando. LOL!

I'm very much into corporal punishment... i wonder if she's dating someone... I enjoy being beat up, getting my hair pulled, being thrown to the floor, punched in the back... it makes me very, very horny.

Please call me, Liz!!!!

She should be suspended for life !!! The referees who allowed the infractions to continue should be penalized in some way as well. She can save the canned "apology". There was nothing sincere about it. She read it very well.
What she did and continued to do was far beyond " the game getting physical". The hair pulling was just the tip of the iceberg. The thrown elbows, low kicks, punches and slaps to other players. C'mon where were the refs? How could they not see what was happening, and why did it go on for so long ??

Wow- national tragedy. Get real people!!! Yes, she deserves a suspension. But her career should not be ruined over this. BYU is laughing their a$$es off. It’s what they wanted. I’m not saying her play was acceptable. But get real.