BYU soccer: New Mexico player suspended after game skirmish

Women's collegiate soccer is a rough-and-tumble game, filled with fouls and occasional injuries. Thursday's Mountain West Conference soccer championship semifinal game between the eventual 1-0 winner BYU and New Mexico went beyond the typical trips and elbows.

The most flagrant moment occurred when New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert grabbed Cougar forward Kassidy Shumway's hair and yanked her violently to the turf inside the 18-yard box.

As a result, New Mexico soccer coach Kit Vela suspended Lambert indefinitely. She is prohibited from participating in all team practices, competition and conditioning activities.

"Liz's conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate," UNM vice president for

athletics Paul Krebs said. "There is no way to defend her actions."

Lambert apologized Friday.

"I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions," she said in a statement. "My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women's soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women's soccer program and its players."

Game official Joe Pimentel didn't see the foul. Later he gave Lambert, who also traded rabbit jabs and elbows with Cougar forward Carlee Payne, a yellow card for kicking a dead ball into the face of a BYU player, who was prone on the ground.

"Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance, her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship," said Vela.

Javan Hedlund, associate commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, said the game's sportsmanship and the officiating is under review.

"There were some unfortunate things that happened," BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "We're proud that our players played hard. We hope to move forward and play for the championship tomorrow."

BYU (17-2-2) and San Diego State (13-3-5) meet today at noon in the MWC championship game at South Stadium on the BYU campus.

"The Mountain West Conference does what it always does when it involves sportsmanship, we always get as much information -- video, reports -- as we can. We will not comment until a course of action is warranted."

Hedlund said the MWC will determine if any disciplinary action, including reviewing the officiating, is needed. Later, the MWC issued a statement, which read in part:

"The MWC commends the University of New Mexico for its prompt response. The decisive manner in which it was handled is consistent with the MWC Sportsmanship Policy and the principles under which the Conference conducts intercollegiate athletics.

"The MWC will continue its internal review of the overall dynamic involved in the match."

Rockwood was unsure how the incident would affect today's championship game.

"You can never control the officiating or what they call," she said. " We want to make sure that this doesn't become a distraction ."

martyr@sltrib.com