Fairly or unfairly, women’s college soccer usually draws almost zero public attention. It is

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probably no exaggeration to say that most games produce more goals than news accounts. But the sport has gained viral attention as the violent play of a University of New Mexico defender, Elizabeth Lambert, has become an ignominious sensation on television, the Internet and talk radio.

Video of the incident has spurred a national debate about sportsmanship, gender roles, double standards regarding aggressiveness and news media coverage and the sexualised portrayal of female athletes.

Lambert, 20, has been suspended indefinitely by New Mexico after she engaged in shoving, punching, tripping and yanking an opponent down by the ponytail last Thursday in a 1-0 loss to Brigham Young.

Paul Krebs, the athletic director at New Mexico, said, “There is no way to defend her actions.”Lambert said she was “deeply and wholeheartedly regretful” for losing her self-control during the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinal match.

The response to Lambert’s behaviour has been as varied as it has been widespread. Several Facebook pages are devoted to the incident. One page is “Ban Elizabeth Lambert from college soccer,” and features comments like, “This is not sports play, this is assault.” A second page is “Go Elizabeth Lambert” and urges, “If the offense doesn’t fear you, you’re not doing your job.” A third page, “Free Elizabeth Lambert,” refers to her as a “sexy butcher.”

Julie Foudy, a former captain of the US women’s national team, said on ESPN, for whom she is a commentator, that jostling and even hair pulling were part of the women’s game, but “if you’re going to pull someone’s ponytail and about snap their head off with it, that’s going over the line.”

Bruce Arena, the coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the former coach of the US men’s national team, said in an interview: “Let’s be fair, there have been worse incidents in games than that. I think we are somewhat sexist in our opinion of sport. I think maybe people are alarmed to see a woman do that, but men do a hell of a lot worse things. Was it good behaviour? No, but because it’s coming from a woman, they made it a headline.”

Anson Dorrance, who has coached the North Carolina women’s soccer team to 20 national championships, said Tuesday that the vast majority of coaches and players “would never endorse that kind of behavior” demonstrated by Lambert. But he lamented that “the only way we seem to make the news is when something like this happens.”

Foudy said, in an interview that even the infamous head-butt by Zinedine Zidane, “I don’t think had the legs this has had.”

Similarly harsh play by men does not seem to provoke the same visceral reaction and incredulous scrutiny that Lambert received, Dorrance said.

“The world has changed,” Dorrance said. “Women play with just as much intensity, work ethic and sometimes aggression as guys.”

But although men can be celebrated for extreme aggression, like knocking out a quarterback in the NFL, “women are held to a different standard,” Dorrance said.

“I hate to call it a higher standard,” he said. “It’s almost like they crossed a gender line they weren’t allowed to cross, like we want to take them out of the athletic arena and put them in the nurturing, caring role as mothers of children.” Some have raised questions whether Lambert was given more leeway to commit fouls because of the perception that women’s games are not refereed as seriously as men’s games.

Tony DiCicco, who coached the US to the 1999 Women’s World Cup title, said he doubted Lambert was the only one playing roughly. He questioned the vigilance of the referee Joe Pimentel, who issued only a late yellow-card warning to Lambert for tripping, and the apparent inaction of New Mexico Coach Kit Vela to restrain Lambert.

The Lambert incident has also been sexualised, as was the jersey-removing celebration by Brandi Chastain after she scored the winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women’s World Cup. Lambert’s behaviour has been referred to as “hot” on some blogs.

This is a way to trivialise, or make less threatening, women’s sports, said Pat Griffin, an emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts.

“It isn’t about women’s soccer and how great its players are,” Griffin said. “It’s about titillation, about sexualising women in a catfight, that weird porno-lesbian subtext: let’s watch two women go at it.”