University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert is both contrite and defiant two weeks after she became an Internet sensation for unsportsmanlike behavior in a game against Brigham Young University.
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Lambert said she does not recognize herself pulling down Kassidy Shumway by the BYU player's ponytail during a Nov. 5 game in the Mountain West Conference semifinals.
"I look at it and I'm like, 'That is not me,' " Lambert told The New York Times. "I have so much regret. I can't believe I did that."
However, Lambert contends other aggressive play, including elbowing an opponent in the back, trips and hard tackles, and an episode in which she seemed to throw a punch at an opponent's head, were to some degree misunderstood by casual fans.
Lambert, who called the apparent punch inadvertent, said her actions were blown out of proportion because they occurred in a women's game.
"I definitely feel because I am a female it did bring about a lot more attention than if a male were to do it," Lambert said. "It's more expected for men to go out there and be rough. The female, we're still looked at as, 'Oh, we kick the ball around and score a goal.' But it's not. We train very hard to reach the highest level we can get to. The physical aspect has maybe increased over the years. I'm not saying it's for the bad or it's been too overly aggressive. It's a game. Sports are physical."
Lambert, a 20-year-old junior defender, was suspended from the New Mexico team after the video received huge attention on TV and the Internet. Some labeled her "the loco Lobo."
"I still deeply regret it and will always regret it and will carry it through the rest of my life not to retaliate," she said.
She added: "I think the way the video came out, it did make me look like a monster. That's not the type of player I am."
Let it go
 Are people still getting on Elizabeth Lambert's case for her pulling some hair? Yardbarker thinks it's time we leave her alone already. |
Lambert, who has met with a clinical psychologist to better understand the hair-pulling incident, said she was shaken by e-mail and telephone messages she has received as well as comments made about her online. She also said she felt conflicting emotions.
"I'll be angry with myself that I did this, to my team, my university, that I did this to women's soccer, a sport that many females have worked very hard to get respect for," Lambert told the newspaper. "And I'll be sad that people want to see me suffer."
Lambert said "it would have been a very different game" had the match been more tightly officiated.
On video, a BYU player can be seen elbowing Lambert in the stomach before she retaliates with a shove. Shumway can be seen tugging on Lambert's shorts before she is yanked down by her ponytail.
Lambert, who was hit with her only yellow cards of the season in the two previous games, said she does not consider herself a dirty player but recognizes one moment caught on video has led to a differing public opinion.
"In that one moment, I let it all get into my head," Lambert said.
