Sports And Violence

Lobo’s women soccer player, Elizabeth Lambert was barred due to her violent conduct during the 1-0 loss to BYU in the Mountain West Conference semifinals. Coach Kit Vela clarified that Lambert will not be participating in upcoming matches and trainings. He also said that Lambert was a gifted student and athlete but her inappropriate behavior and actions was unacceptable and unfair. A video of the game shows her doing a number of rough tackles and kicks notably the pulling the hair of opposition forward , Kassidy Shumway. During 76th minute of the game, she was given a yellow card for tripping. On Friday, Lambert apologized for her behavior and actions saying that she was extremely regretful of the events that had occurred. She also took full responsibility of her actions and was ready to accept the necessary punishment. The Mountain West said it supported the punishment given as they felt that Lambert’s conduct went against conference's sportsmanship policy. The conference would continue an internal review of "the overall dynamic involved in the match" and said it would not comment further. New Mexico's vice president for athletics, Paul Krebs, felt that Lambert’s behavior against BYU was unacceptable and there was no way to justify her actions. BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe, in a news release, said Krebs had contacted him after the incident."It's an unfortunate incident that occurred in the game Thursday afternoon," Holmoe said. "The University of New Mexico and the Mountain West Conference have reviewed the situation and have acted appropriately ... I am pleased with his immediate response to the matter."New Mexico (13-5-3) was the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Top-seeded BYU (17-2-2), ranked No. 17 in the NCSAA/adidas College Soccer Women's Top 25, advanced to the tournament final against San Diego State with the win. The Cougars scored the game's lone goal on a Carlee Payne header off a direct kick in the 31st minute.