Home » Elizabeth Lambert: What Happened to The Soccer Player “Ponytail Girl?”

Elizabeth Lambert: What Happened to The Soccer Player “Ponytail Girl?”

A video clip released by ESPN in 2009 showed Elizabeth Lambert intentionally kicking, pulling hairs, and elbowing the back of opponent players during a match. This issue immediately became a viral thread back then. Before getting backlash, her team had to kick her out of the team.

After playing for her university from 2006 to 2009, she was banned for life from playing football. What was her wrongdoing? Where is Elizabeth Lambert now?

In this article, we will discuss the whereabouts of her.

Who is Elizabeth Lambert?

Elizabeth Ann Lambert was a university soccer player who started her career by playing soccer in her high school. She became a star for her team and eventually continued being a star at her university.

She was admitted into the University of New Mexico in 2006, where she played till 2009. However, she was banned for behaving in the Mountain West Conference semifinal game against Brigham Young University (BYU).

Elizabeth Lambert started her career playing for St. Francis Catholic High School in Sacramento.

Full NameElizabeth Ann Lambert
BirthdayDecember 29th, 1988
Age34 Years
Birth PlaceSacramento, California, USA
GenderFemale
Alma materSt. Francis Catholic High School and University of New Mexico.
Former teamUniversity of New Mexico Women’s soccer team
University soccer career2006 – 2009

Elizabeth Lambert’s birthday is on December 29, 1988. Her personal life is restricted, and her current life history is unknown. People are still interested in her personal life, whereabouts, etc. But she kept her hidden like being in an invisible cloak.

Elizabeth Lambert’s Educational Background

Ms. Lambert went to St. Francis Catholic High School. She was the star member of the girls’ soccer team, and here she racked at least four trophies, as records show.

She moved to the University of New Mexico after graduating high school in 2006. She joined the university soccer team as well. She was one of the star players of the soccer team back then. She was part of the team till 2009.

What was Elizabeth Lambert’s offense?

What happened to Elizabeth Lamber? Elizabeth Lambert soccer player was a star player on her team. Joining the University of New Mexico and becoming a senior group member triggered the young player’s mentality that she could do whatever she liked on the field.

Fig: Elizabeth Lambert illegally tackling a player

The match that Elizabeth was playing that day was rough on both sides. The video that ESPN posted that day shows Elizabeth pulling BYU’s Kassidy Shumway’s hair, kicking another player, elbowing the back of another player, and tackling illegally many times.

For all these actions, she received only a yellow card in the 76th minute of the game. The authority suspended Elizabeth Lambert for two matches after watching the clips on ESPN. The uploaded video had been watched more than 2M times in the 1st week.

The video was so viral that people labeled her the “Ponytail Girl.” Even LeBron James’ slam dunk video was viewed 7160 times, the closed-viewed online video that week. It was like a movie released and was houseful in every hall for the whole week.

Elizabeth later claimed she took an elbow to her ribs before elbowing the player on the back; both teams were playing harshly that day, which has affected her mentality as well. She added that if it were a men’s game, it would have created less fuss it was making.

Did Elizabeth Lambert’s Apologize Publicly?

Ms. Lambert apologized for her actions by calling a press conference after the match on November 5, 2009. She told the media that she deeply regrets her bad behavior during the game.

The media covered it like this, “She was deeply and wholeheartedly sorry for her actions, she said. She added that her actions were uncalled for, and how she behaved in the game was unacceptable at any level. She apologized to the media, the fans, the Brigham Young University players, the University of New Mexico, and her coach.”

In an interview with The New York Times, she said when she looked at the video posted by ESPN, Ms. Lambert did not believe she could do such a thing on any other regular game. She was not a person that the media was trying to cover about her.

Did Elizabeth Lambert Return to Playing Soccer?

After two match suspension periods, the University of New Mexico announced Elizabeth’s return to the game in 2010.

University of New Mexico’s women’s soccer team coach, Kit Vela, sided with her young player. She told the media that Elizabeth was doing fine and was back to her training.

But after the horrific match, the young star was facing public bashing and was facing bashing from the media and online as well. She was trying to hide herself from the media’s eyes.

Where is Elizabeth Lambert today?

After the national scandal, Elizabeth Lambert New Mexico did not come back to her regular life. Maybe she returned to her feet and started her life somewhere else, but she hid herself completely. We gathered information about her early life by studying various sites and articles. 

But the way she vanished, no one knows where she lives, works, or if she even lives or not. She may be married to someone or living happily. The last post she updated on her Facebook page was in 2009.

Some say she later continued her soccer career in local teams, and after her retirement in recent years, she has been coaching high school girls’ soccer teams.

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