Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo Lead Team USA to Olympic Gold (VIDEO)

Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach help lead Team USA to gold in women’s London 2012 soccer  final

Watch Team USA midfielder Megan Rapinoe talk to genConnect about boosting women’s sports in the media:

WATCH: Lauren Pasquale on how to connect with Team USA at the London 2012 Games

It had been 389 days since the U.S. Women’s Soccer team lost to Japan in the 2011 FIFA World Cup in a shocking game that came down to penalty kicks. And players Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and others have been counting down the days until they would get their chance at a rematch.

Friday, August 9, 2012 was that day. Japan and USA met in the 2012 London Olympic soccer final in front of a 80,000-person crowd for the ultimate showdown. And this time, Team USA came out on top.

Midfielder Carli Lloyd was the game’s star, scoring USA’s two goals in the 8th and 54th minute of the game. Japan answered with a goal of their own in the 65th minute but amazing saves by goalkeeper Hope Solo and Team USA’s defense held off the Japanese for a final score of 2-1.

The U.S. women road to the finals was nothing short of exciting – the team beat Canada on Monday in semi-final event after American forward Alex Morgan scored a header, giving her team a 4-3 lead, just minutes before the heart-pounding game would have gone to penalty kicks to determine the outcome.

Related: U.S. Women Win First-Ever Gold in Olympic Water Polo

“There’s nothing better than performing your sport in such a packed arena,” Rapinoe says in her interview with genConnect. “We’re all not LeBron James out there on every single media site. Especially for a female athlete – have something like the Genome Project get me out there, get my team out there. For many other athletes too that aren’t in high-profile sports, it’s pretty cool to have so much information out there about us.”

Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team!

Click here for more of genConnect’s coverage of the 2012 Road to the Olympics

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