Confession: I missed the first 15 minutes of the World Cup.

We were driving, and in a classically Italian-American way, tried to beat traffic and, of course, were late.

I rushed into the kitchen and turned on the TV. I thought there was some kind of mistake. 3-0?

Surely this isn’t the right game. Surely, someone was having the joke of the century. The score couldn’t POSSIBLY be 3-0 in the final of a World Cup game in such a short amount of time.

I proceeded to voice these thoughts. Before I could even string two sentences together, the score was 4-0.

16 minutes in, and the U.S. had a 4-0 lead.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Did Japan choke? I have too much respect for the Japanese team to think they were outskilled to the point of trailing by 4 goals.

What happened?

Carli Lloyd happened.

She scored with such beautiful, precise finishes, Japan was simply as shocked as I was. They hadn’t choked at all. Lloyd capitalized on her skill and opportunities.

Let’s go over these goals one by one:

Goal 1: Lloyd finishes off a set piece (corner).

Goal 2: Lloyd finishes off a set piece (indirect kick).

Goal 3: Holiday finishes off a misclear.

Goal 4: Lloyd scores from behind the 50.

Goal 5: Heath finishes off a set piece (corner).

Lloyd scored three-fifths of the goals. three-fifths of the goals were scored from set pieces. Each one of these was simply a goal scoring opportunity that the U.S. capitalized on in an unprecedented way.

But this final was unprecedented for more than its goals:

• The rarity of a hat-trick (three goals in the same match) in a world cup match, especially in women’s.

• The number of total goals scored in the game (7).

• The U.S. not winning a World Cup since 1999.

• The U.S. being the only nation to win three Women’s World Cups.

With this set up, many players knew it would be their last World Cup, including Wambach and Rampone. I think head coach Jill Ellis made the right decision by bringing them both on the field, along with O’Hara (who was brought on more for her skill), as subs to savor their last moments.

Wambach and Rampone’s leadership and legacy were evident and respected as they raised the World Cup Trophy, and as Lloyd gave Wambach the captain’s armband when she entered the game.

Wambach kissed her wife. The players popped champagne. What more could we ask for?

More. A lot more.

We still want turf. We still want to be paid as much as the men would have for winning a World Cup. We want it to not be odd that I’m a female writing sports commentary.

I’ve already mentioned how integral youth leagues are to player development. While I now half-jokingly consider myself to be retired at the ripe old age of 22, (although I have come to work with a black eye from a mismanaged header during an intramural game), I still care about soccer, not only what it has done for me personally, physically, and professionally, but what it can do for girls in the U.S. and beyond.

I know there are many people like me, who idolize these women, and for good reasons.

The question is: what are we going to do with our own knowledge and skill sets?

Share them. Be a role model for someone else like they have for you.

In the words of Carli Lloyd, “I love when people tell me I can’t do something … If you have a dream, that dream is attainable.”

Whether you’re still involved with soccer or not, that spirit can be applied to anything and everything you put your mind to.

That’s the real takeaway from this tournament.