According to The New York Times, last Sunday's Women's World Cup final was "the most-watched soccer game in United States history," with the an audience that  "exceeded those for the recent NBA finals and for last year's World Series" by more than two million. Even after Team USA ended the first half leading 4-1, a nearly insurmountable lead in soccer that would normally prompt most people to lose interest and tune out, the audience only continued to grow.

If you watched the game unfold, you know that it wasn't just the "USA!" chants "...

Baldo by Hector D. Cantu and Carlos Castellanos

Or the vuvuzelas getting fans excited "...

The Born Loser by Art and Chip Sansom

It was the action! Three of four points came from Carli Lloyd, who started off the game by scoring the quickest goal ever seen in the finals, before going on to achieve the fastest hat-trick (three goals in a row) in Women's World Cup history. Because of her efforts, as well as those of her teammates, the ladies of U.S. soccer ended up beating Japan 4-2, breaking yet another record, as the first team ever to win this tournament three times.

Jeff Stahler by Jeff Stahler

Not only is this epic and exciting for the women of Team USA, most of them having dedicated their whole lives to the sport, dreaming of a day like last Sunday "...

Cleats by Bill Hinds

This is a victory for all women fighting for equality in the sporting world. Female athletes of all ages, who share the same dreams and drive, are seeing the results of hard work and celebrating the well-deserved success of 23 awesome women. 

Win, Lose, Drew by Drew Litton

As CNN reporter Amy Bass put it, when teammates "Abby Wambach, who has the most international goals, men or women, in the history of the game, with 183, and [Christie] Rampone lifted that trophy over their heads, the foundation of women's sports in the United States got that much stronger."

Steve Breen by Steve Breen

- Amanda