12 July 2009 - A Tip Of The Hat To Cristiane

On 12 July 2009, the Chicago Red Stars beat Gold Pride 3-1 with a hat-trick--the league's first--from Brazilian forward Cristiane.

It was the inaugural season for the USA's new women's league, Women's Professional Soccer. They held a draft the previous year, allowing each team to select four international players. Gold Pride took Brazilian star Formiga with the first pick and Chicago chose Cristiane with the fifth pick (Brazilian players Marta and Daniela went in the third and fourth spots, to Los Angeles and St. Louis, respectively).

League play started on 29 March and Cristiane already had three goals before meeting Gold Pride at Chicago's Toyota Park. Her first goal of the day came via the penalty spot after getting fouled in the 31st minute. She got her second just before the break, taking a pass from Megan Rapinoe and beating keeper Nicole Barnhart.

Gold Pride halved the deficit in the 64th minute with a penalty kick of their own, taken by Tiffeny Milbrett after a Rapinoe foul, but Cristiane restored the 2-goal margin and completed her record hat-trick just seconds later, blasting the ball into the net's top corner.

6 August 2012 - Better Late Than Never

On 6 August 2012, the US women advanced to the gold medal match thanks to the latest goal ever scored in Olympic history.

The game was the second women's semifinal, with Japan already advancing with a 2-1 win over France. The US were up against neighbors and rivals Canada, who had just eliminated hosts Great Britain in the quarterfinals.

Playing at Old Trafford in Manchester, the two teams traded a pair of goals each from Canada's Christine Sinclair (22', 67') and the US's Megan Rapinoe (54', 70') to remain level deep into the second half. All four goals were impressive, but Rapinoe's were particularly so, as her first goal snuck in directly from a corner kick and her second was a long-range blast off the opposite post from the edge of the penalty area.

Sinclair then completed her hat-trick in the 73rd minute, which also made her the tournament's leading scorer, before US forward Abby Wambach converted an 80th-minute penalty to bring the sides level once again. They remained level into the second half of extra time. Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, US forward Alex Morgan scored with a header to secure the victory.

The US went into the final, where they beat Japan in a rematch of the 2011 World Cup Final. Canada did not go home empty-handed, though, beating France to claim the bronze.



[Photo credit: Jamie McDonald/FIFA/Getty Images]

12 July 2009 - A Tip Of The Hat To Cristiane

On 12 July 2009, the Chicago Red Stars beat Gold Pride 3-1 with a hat-trick--the league's first--from Brazilian forward Cristiane.

It was the inaugural season for the USA's new women's league, Women's Professional Soccer. They held a draft the previous year, allowing each team to select four international players. Gold Pride took Brazilian star Formiga with the first pick and Chicago chose Cristiane with the fifth pick (Brazilian players Marta and Daniela went in the third and fourth spots, to Los Angeles and St. Louis, respectively).

League play started on 29 March and Cristiane already had three goals before meeting Gold Pride at Chicago's Toyota Park. Her first goal of the day came via the penalty spot after getting fouled in the 31st minute. She got her second just before the break, taking a pass from Megan Rapinoe and beating keeper Nicole Barnhart.

Gold Pride halved the deficit in the 64th minute with a penalty kick of their own, taken by Tiffeny Milbrett after a Rapinoe foul, but Cristiane restored the 2-goal margin and completed her record hat-trick just seconds later, blasting the ball into the net's top corner.