Carli Lloyd scored a hat trick inside the opening 16 minutes, and Lauren Holiday and Tobin Heath also tallied, as the USWNT defeated Japan 5-2 in the Women’s World Cup Final.

The Americans ran out to a 4-0 lead before Yuki Ogimi tallied in the 27th minute for Japan. The Japanese may have felt they had a glimmer of hope, cutting the U.S. lead to 4-2 in the 52nd minute behind a Julie Johnston own goal, but Tobin Heath scored just two minutes later to assert American dominance and assure the win.

First Half

Jill Ellis made no changes to the squad that defeated Germany in the semi-final, keeping the same 4-3-3.

The U.S. was on top in just the third minute when Japanese could not cope with an American set piece and Lloyd was on hand to flick a shot home with the outside of her left foot from close range.

The Americans would double their lead just two minutes later in the 5th minute. Tobin Heath won a dangerous set piece just outside the the Japanese with some crafty dribbling. Lauren Holiday took the free kick, which was flicked on by Julie Johnston at the near post, and Lloyd was there again to send the ball home from 6 yards for her second of the night.

Holiday would tally herself to make it 3-0 in just the 14th minute. After a long shot was partially blocked by a Japanese defender, Holiday followed up and brilliantly volleyed home from 14 yards to give the Americans an insurmountable lead.

Lloyd would complete her hat trick in just the 16th minute with an audacious chip from just inside Japan’s half. Spotting goalkeeper Ayumi Kalhori off her line, Lloyd fired a looping ball just after crossing the midfield stripe before Kalhori could retreat to push the ball wide, making the score 4-0.

Yuki Ogimi would cut the deficit to 4-1 in the 27th minute. Beating Becky Sauerbrunn to a cross from the left side , Ogimi finished into the top corner from 12 yards to give the Japanese hope.

Japan would insert Homare Sawa (33rd minute) and Yukia Sugaswa (39th minute) to try and cut into the American attack, but the first half would finish 4-1 in favor of the Americans.

Second Half

Japan would cut the U.S. lead to 4-2 through a bit of misfortune in the 52nd minute. A long free kick into the American box was flicked backward by Julie Johnston and alluded Hope Solo, before nestling into the right corner.

But Tobin Heath would restore the three goal lead just two minutes later in the 54th minute when Kaihori could not deal with another corner kick from Holiday and Heath was on hand to tap in from close range to maintain the advantage.

Kelly O’Hara, Abby Wambach, and Christie Rampone were all introduced as the Americans saw out the match with relative ease to win their third Women’s World Cup trophy, and first in 16 years.

The seven-goal game was the highest scoring final in Women’s World Cup history. Hope Solo was awarded the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper in the tournament, and Carli Lloyd was awarded the Golden Ball for best player in the tournament.

Stay tuned to PSP later this week for more analysis of the Americans’ historic win.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Julie Johnston, 22-Meghan Klingenberg; 12-Lauren Holiday, 14-Morgan Brian, 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe (5-Kelley O’Hara, 61), 13-Alex Morgan (3-Christie Rampone, 86), 17-Tobin Heath (20-Abby Wambach, 79)
Subs Not Used: 2-Sydney Leroux, 6-Whitney Engen, 7-Shannon Boxx, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 16-Lori Chalupny,18-Ashlyn Harris, 21-Alyssa Naeher, 23-Christen Press
Head coach: Jill Ellis

JPN: 18-Ayumi Kaihori; 3-Azusa Iwashimizu (10-Homare Sawa, 33), 4-Saki Kumagai, 5-Aya Sameshima, 6-Mizuho Sakaguchi, 8-aya Miyama (C), 9-Nahomi Kawasumi (15-Yuika Sugasawa, 39), 11-Shinobu Ohno (16-Mana Iwabuchi, 60), 13-Rumi Utsugi, 17-Yuki Ogimi, 19-Saori Ariyoshi
Subs Not Used: 1-Miho Fukumoto, 2-Yukari Kinga, 12-Megumi Kamionobe, 14-Asuna Tanaka, 20-Yuri Kawamura, 21-Erina Yamane, 22-Asano Nagasato, 23-Kana Kitahara, 7-Kozue Ando
Head Coach: Norio Sasaki

Scoring Summary
USA – Carli Lloyd (Megan Rapinoe) – 3rd minute
USA – Carli Lloyd – 5
USA – Lauren Holiday – 14
USA – Carli Lloyd – 16
JPN – Yuki Ogimi (Nahomi Kawasumi) – 27
JPN – Julie Johnston (own goal) – 52
USA – Tobin Heath (Morgan Brian) – 54

Misconduct Summary
JPN – Homare Sawa (caution) – 82nd minute
JPN – Mana Iwabuchi (caution) – 85

Stats Summary (USA / JPN)
Shots: 15 / 12
Shots on Goal: 7 / 4
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 7 / 3
Fouls: 14 / 10
Offside: 1 / 1

Officials:
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Natalia Rachynska (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yolanda Parga (ESP)
Fourth Official: Claudia Umpierrez (URU)

Venue: BC Place; Vancouver, Canada
Kickoff: 4 p.m. PT
Attendance: 53,341
Weather: Indoor Stadium