Ruthless cheap shots

"New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert (No.15) clinches her first after deflecting the ball from BYU forward Carlee Payne (No.7) during second half in the MWC tournament semifinals at South Field at BYU, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. BYU won, 1-0, advancing them to the MWC finals."

I was covering the Thursday’s Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinal contest between the BYU Cougars and New Mexico Lobos when all hell broke loose.

What was a normal first half of soccer turned into one of the cheapest, dirtiest soccer games I've ever seen. And with that said, I've played all my life, watched countless games, and to this day still play.

This brutal match-up started when New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert gave BYU forward Carlee Payne a punch to the back when jostling off ball.

Knowing the game, I knew I'd better focus on Lambert when she was in the box during free kicks and off the ball.

Then it happened. A hair-pulling, ponytail take down that could have easily left a BYU forward Kassidy Shumway with a broken neck.

Now, that play is burned in my brain, not because of how viscous it was, but because I had the wrong angle and wasn’t fast enough. Although anticipating it, my placement left me with the backs of both players.

Things didn't get any better as the game went on either. The above play (5 frames taken from the 11 sequence which the Daily Herald today) was my cleanest, clear blatant foul by Lambert, aside from a take down we ran the day after the game.

I could talk more on this, but if you want to see it all, check out ESPN's video here.