Violence Causes Uproar
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Who says violence and women's sports don't mix?
The BYU women's soccer Mountain West Conference semifinal against New Mexico drew a sparse crowd, but has now gained national attention.
All thanks to an overzealous New Mexico defender turning the match into a free-for-all of hair pulling, kicking, punching, tripping and anything else she could get away with. New Mexico lost 1-0 to BYU, but junior Elizabeth Lambert's play was caught on video and soon broadcasted to the world on the internet.The BYU women's soccer Mountain West Conference semifinal against New Mexico drew a sparse crowd, but has now gained national attention.
ESPN picked up the feed and ran it during every segment of its shows on Friday. Lambert has since been suspended indefinitely by her school. Lambert also released a statement expressing remorse for her actions.
Ashleigh Jameson, a four-year standout at Robert E. Lee is enjoying her senior year as midfielder for the BYU team. In a phone interview Friday evening, Jameson said that it was a physical game, but she didn't realize it was as bad as the video showed.
"Most of the stuff happened in the second half and I got most of my minutes in the first half," said Jameson, who was All-East Texas Girls Soccer Player of the Year in 2005 and has started 17 matches for BYU (17-3-2).
"The atmosphere on the field was really intense, I knew it was really physical, but I didn't realize most of the physical play was coming from one player."
BYU went in front 1-0 in the first half on a headed goal by Carlee Payne. At some point after that goal, a BYU player elbowed Lambert, which prompted a punch in the player's back.
That's normal jostling in a soccer match as players position themselves for corner kicks and free kicks.
But what happened after that was nowhere near the norm.
The video clips pieced together show Lambert taking a BYU player out with a trip on the sideline, another shows her with a vicious tackle from behind.
This leads up to one of the more heinous things this reporter has seen in a soccer match. As Lambert stands behind BYU forward Cassidy Shumway waiting for the ball to arrive, she yanks down on Shumway's ponytail causing the Cougar player to collapse in agony.
"I didn't see the ponytail thing (because I was on the sideline)," Jameson said. "We just heard Cassie scream and then she was on the ground."
Lambert wasn't done.
She followed that up with kicking the ball into a BYU player's face after her teammate tripped the player just outside the box. She was finally shown a yellow card for a vicious tackle near the sideline that showed Lambert striking the BYU girl in the face while taking her down.
She followed that up with kicking the ball into a BYU player's face after her teammate tripped the player just outside the box. She was finally shown a yellow card for a vicious tackle near the sideline that showed Lambert striking the BYU girl in the face while taking her down.
"We really couldn't do anything and the officials, for whatever reason didn't see it, or chose not to call any of it," Jameson said. "Our players showed a lot of class by never retaliating for any of this."
Jameson said BYU is enjoying the national attention it has received, but wishes it was for the match itself and their success, rather than this.
"Our coaches have stressed that the main thing is we have moved on from this," Jameson said.
The top-seeded Lady Cougars were upset 1-0 Saturday by San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference Final.
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