A Rutgers women’s soccer game briefly turned into an MMA match Sunday afternoon.
As the Scarlett Knights faced UMass in Amherst, a tense brawl broke out after a hard foul by Rutgers senior forward Gia Girman and UMass senior forward Ashley Lamond.
The fight occurred in the 55th minute of what turned out to be a 1-0 loss for Rutgers after Girman fouled a UMass player and Lamond came over to try to play the ball quickly after the call.
Girman seems to have taken exception to this tactic.
Things quickly escalated from there with Lamond shoving Girman, then punches were thrown back and forth before Girman knocked the UMass player to the ground.
Girman appeared to land an uppercut on Lamond while both were on the ground before players from both teams rushed to end the hostilities.
Lamond and Girman were both shown red cards and sent off from the match.
Rutgers and UMass finished the game with 10 players each on the field and there were four yellow cards – two for each team – in the final minutes of the game.
A Rutgers athletic department spokesperson told The Associated Press they were aware of the fight but had no immediate comment.
In Rutgers’ game summary on the school’s website, they described the incident as a “fight.”
UMass senior midfielder Bella Recinos scored the game-winning goal in the 81st minute of the game.
The red card related to the fight results in a two-game suspension, under NCAA rules.
Girman is entering her fourth year of soccer at Rutgers, where she has scored four goals in 59 appearances.
Rutgers and UMass are not expected to face each other again this season, eliminating any possibility of another matchup between the two players.
