Brawl breaks out in women's soccer (PHOTO)

A regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference soccer match between the Maryland and Miami (Fla.) women's soccer teams turned into a jersey-pulling brawl with two minutes left in regulation, according to The Diamondback, Maryland's student newspaper.

The reported "fight" took place when Terrapins player Hayley Brock responded to several Miami players after being taken down at midfield. The Diamondback described the scene by writing, "fists were thrown, hair was pulled and players were ejected. Two or three fans were also kicked out of the game after jumping over the fence in an attempt to join or break up the fight."

Brock and Miami players Kate Howarth and Maddie Simms were given red cards, and all three players were suspended for their team's next game. Miami (8-6-2, 3-4-1) won the game, 1-0, upsetting No. 7 Maryland (11-4-2, 6-2-1 ACC). The Terps are still second in the conference.

Maryland associate media relations director Patrick Fischer downplayed the incident when contacted by USA TODAY Sports Friday but said the ACC would be investigating the situation.

"It wasn't really a brawl," Fischer said. "It was an unfortunate situation where things got a little chippy. No one cleared the bench, the officials did a decent job of not letting things escalate. It was just a physical game that reached a boiling point. Cooler heads could have prevailed."

The melee was sparked from a physical game that featured 29 fouls and three yellow cards.

"There were a lot of late hits and a lot of pulling of jerseys," Maryland midfielder Becky Kaplan told The Diamondback.

"It was a pretty ugly game," Miami coach Tom Anagnost said after the game. "Our kids competed very hard."

The game took place at College Park in front of Maryland's athletics director and university president.