Key Takeaways from USWNT's Win in Women's World Cup Finals

When Carli Lloyd missed her penalty kick in the 2011 Women’s World Cup final against Japan, the fate of the USWNT was all but sealed. Lloyd’s miss was the second of three missed penalties for the US, and since that defeat, the team has had four years to think about taking its revenge.

During the 2015 World Cup final on Sunday, exacting that revenge took only 15 minutes.

That’s all the time it took for Lloyd to record a hat trick—the first ever in a Women’s World Cup final. Her third goal came on a shot taken from midfield and put an exclamation point on what was an electrifying first-half performance.

That gave the U.S. an insurmountable 4-0 lead. Though Japan made a valiant comeback effort to cut the deficit in half, a goal by Tobin Heath in the 54th minute put an end to the scoring and preserved the 5-2 win for the Americans.

Heath missed the third penalty kick in the 2011 final, and her victory-clinching goal on Sunday provided another example of redemption.

But nothing exemplified the theme of atonement more than Lloyd's three-goal performance.

Lloyd is among the all-time leaders in USWNT history in games played and goals scored, but this was her opportunity to vaunt herself into an elite category of U.S. women’s soccer players with the likes of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

“I am speechless,” Lloyd told Laura Vecsey of Fox Sports after the game. “I am so proud of this team. This doesn’t feel real, it hasn’t sunk in. We just made history.”

The win gives the U.S. three World Cup titles, more than any other country, and puts an end to 16 years of coming up short since the country’s 1999 title.

While the 1999 team’s championship had a lasting effect on women’s soccer, this year’s team might make an even bigger impact. Sunday’s final had a 15.2 overnight rating, a rating that rivals some of the biggest sporting events of the year.

With the explosion of social media in the past decade, players have a much larger platform than they did 16 years ago. There are far more familiar faces and names on this year’s team, and as the number of people paying attention continues to grow, the reach of the sport will grow along with it.

“We’re talking about them as athletes, rather then some of the conversations we had in ’99—‘My God, who are these women? They’re kind of hot!’” Foudy said, according to Jeré Longman of the New York Times.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Whatever the discussion of this team may be, the 2015 USWNT will ultimately be celebrated for living up to expectations and putting the country back on top. That is what the next generation of US women’s soccer fans will focus on in the years to come.

“It’s just pure elation,” head coach Jill Ellis told BBC, according to The Guardian. “I’m so, so proud of this team and these players, and so happy for every little girl that dreams of this.”