Carli Lloyd's Heroics Lead USWNT to 3rd Women's World Cup Title

Carli Lloyd wanted to leave a legacy. In the end, she wrote a legend.

The United States dominated Japan on Sunday evening in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final in Vancouver, winning 5-2 to become the first country to lift the trophy three times. Lloyd was the game's undisputed star, scoring a 16-minute hat trick and turning in a performance that will surely go down among the sport's best of all time.

For her heroics, Lloyd earned the Golden Ball as the tournament's top player and received the Silver Boot as its second-best scorer (she finished with six goals, the same as Golden Boot winner Celia Sasic of Germany, but finished second on tiebreakers). And more importantly, she served as the driving force as the U.S. claimed that elusive third title after 16 long years of waiting.

What's more, she became the face of American soccer, for the night at the very least and probably much longer. Across the continent, young soccer players—both female and male—will be dreaming of doing what Lloyd did for her country on the grandest stage of all.

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For the 32-year-old, Sunday's star turn was her own dream come true.

“I don’t just want to be a participant in the World Cup,” she told the New York Times' Juliet Macur last month. “I want to have a legacy. I want to have people remember me.”

Lloyd accomplished all that in 16 brilliant minutes at the beginning of the biggest match of her life. 

Less than three minutes into the World Cup final, Lloyd burst past Azusa Iwashimizu to reach a Megan Rapinoe corner, slicing her shot into the net for a quick 1-0 U.S. lead. She scored again only two minutes later, slipping in ahead of Iwashimizu again to turn in Lauren Holiday's free kick after Julie Johnston had flicked the ball on.

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It was a dream start for Lloyd and the U.S., but neither was finished. Holiday made it 3-0 with a superb volley in the 14th minute, and Lloyd finished off her hat trick two minutes later with a goal for the ages. 

Picking up possession inside her own half, Lloyd turned and dribbled to the halfway line. Spotting Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori off her line, Lloyd sent a perfect shot on target from just inside Japan's half. Kaihori scrambled back but could only touch the ball onto the post and into the net.

On U.S. television, former England star Kelly Smith called it "probably the best goal in women's history." She was right. The combination of skill, technique and occasion made it an all-time great.

Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl agreed, writing: "...the third, the halfway-line goal, will be seen on highlight shows as long as U.S. Soccer exists. Lloyd has always looked to take shots from distance, but not from this distance! On July 5, 2015, a player met an occasion and produced something for the ages."

Lloyd is undeniably a legend after Sunday's performance. She already had a reputation for being a big-game player, having scored the winning goals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold-medal matches. But this showing was something else entirely. In a career-defining situation, Lloyd played perhaps the best individual game in World Cup final history.

It's not just Lloyd, though. Immortality awaits the entire team. Like Mia Hamm and the '99ers, who once inspired millions of young girls to play the game, Carli and the '15ers will surely usher in a new level of popularity for soccer in the U.S. The Americans won the World Cup with determination and grit, but also with style and flair.

Only the most hard-hearted of sports fans wouldn't love this team.

But for now, the spotlight belongs to Lloyd, who is now a U.S. soccer icon with a legacy any player could envy. Going forward, great American soccer performances will be measured against the brilliance Lloyd showed Sunday night.

Follow @MiguelCominguez.