And this time there's no question of what happened. You can see it for yourself.

Lobo women's soccer player Elizabeth Lambert gave the university its latest black eye with several illegal, thuggish and dangerous plays during the Lobos' 1-0 loss to Brigham Young during Thursday's semifinals of the Mountain West Conference soccer tournament. After Thursday's game, UNM coach Kit Vela praised her team's rugged play. But, on Friday, after video of Lambert exploded on national television and the Internet, Vela suspended Lambert, a junior, from the team indefinitely.

The MWC is looking into all aspects of the controversial match.

Video of Lambert's punching, hair-pulling and tripping of BYU players began running late Thursday on ESPN and caught fire on YouTube.com, BadJocks.com and other Web sites.

"What's the color card you get to throw you out forever? Black? Purple?" said Dan Patrick, on his nationally syndicated radio show Friday morning (101.7 FM locally). "You almost get the feeling that it's a spoof, like it's a "Saturday Night Live" skit, where you've got somebody there who's just roughing people up. Then you realize, this girl's really angry."

ESPN showed highlights of the match, saying it had some "MMA (mixed martial arts) qualities to it."

In the video, BYU's Carlee Payne - the league's freshman of the year - is shown battling for position with Lambert. Payne gives Lambert an elbow, and Lambert responds by punching Payne in the back.

Lambert, of Lancaster, Calif., is then shown in a number of aggressive and physical plays with both Payne and BYU's Kassidy Shumway, described by ESPN as "physical" and "rough," that were borderline dirty. In one, she appears to be trying a move that could have broken Shumway's arm.

Then comes the highlight of the highlight - or the lowlight.

Shumway is backing into Lambert for position, reaching back and grabbing Lambert's shorts around her thigh. Lambert immediately yanks Shumway's long ponytail, and hurls her to the ground.

"Sure, there is jostling off the ball, that's part of the game of soccer," said Julie Foudy, ESPN analyst and former U.S. Olympic gold medalist. "And, in the women's game, there is even some hair-pulling, yes. But, oh, my goodness! If you're going to pull somebody's ponytail and about snap their head off with it, that is going over the line."

While the Lobos' season ended with the loss, Lambert is prohibited from participating in all team practices, competition and conditioning activities.

"I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions," Lambert said in a UNM news release Friday. "My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am."

On Thursday, the UNM news release about the game described the Lobos as going "punch-for-punch with the Cougars and controlled the momentum for the majority of the match."

In that release, coach Vela said, "We showed a lot of character out there. We showed that we are the soccer team that we are, and that we can stay with a team like BYU. … I think that we dished out everything that we were getting and it was a heck of a game."

Then came the national exposure - and the suspension.

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

UNM sports information director Greg Remington said Vela was unavailable for further interviews. When asked why Vela didn't address Lambert's actions after the game - which was telecast on the Mtn. on Thursday - Remington said "I don't believe she was aware (of the incidents) … It was only when the video was brought to her attention (that she became aware of it)."

The Mountain West Conference commended UNM for its prompt response, but Javan Hedlund, associate commissioner for communications, told the Journal that "The MWC will continue its internal review of the overall dynamic involved in the match. The conference will have no further comment regarding this case."

Embattled UNM athletics director Paul Krebs, in the news release, said, "Liz's conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate. There is no way to defend her actions."

La Cueva athletics director Larry Waters, the school's nationally honored boys soccer coach for 23 years, told the Journal, "I have never seen anything like it at any level."

More contact

The ESPN highlight didn't end with the hair-pull takedown. Lambert was then shown tripping a BYU player, who got the ball kicked into her face by another Lobo while she was face down on the ground. Lambert received a yellow card for that one. It was the third consecutive match in which Lambert had been hit with a yellow card after receiving none in prior games this season, according to statistics found on the school's athletic Web site.

That was followed by Lambert beating Payne to a loose ball, then punching Payne in the face.

Payne scored the game's only goal on an assist from Shumway.

UNM has been under fire since ESPN's report last week about Lobo football coach Mike Locksley's physical altercation with assistant coach J.B. Gerald. Locksley was suspended for 10 days while Gerald has left the team and is expected to file a lawsuit against the school.

Krebs and UNM president David Schmidly held a news conference on Wednesday, admitting they "bungled" the investigation, and that original notes taken during the athletic department investigation had been destroyed.