Rodriguez and Team USA bring home the gold in women’s soccer
Former Trojan Amy Rodriguez earned her second Olympic gold medal after Team USA completed a dramatic 2-1 victory over defending world champion Japan at Wembley Stadium at the London Olympics today.
The Americans exacted revenge in a rematch of the 2011 Women’s World Cup final where it fell, in a penalty-kick shootout, to the Japanese. The USA went up 1-0 early in the game when Carli Lloyd put a header past Japan’s goalkeeper at the 8-minute mark of the first half.
Lloyd scored again in the 54th minute to give the Americans a commanding 2-0 lead. Less than 10 minutes later, Japan’s Yuki Ogimi put her squad on the board with a goal at the 63rd minute.
The two sides continued to trade kicks, but after two minutes of stoppage time, Team USA emerged with its third straight gold medal and fourth in the last five Olympic Games.
An All-American at USC, Rodriguez competed for the Women of Troy from 2005 to 2008. In her junior season, she helped lead USC to its first NCAA Championship as the Trojans won the 2007 title.
The following year, Rodriguez made her Olympic debut and would go on to serve up the assist on the team’s game-winning goal in the gold-medal game. Most recently, Rodriguez scored the game-winner herself in a 2-1 USA win over Canada in Team USA’s 2012 Olympic Sendoff Game.
Rodriguez appeared in Team USA’s first four games of this year’s Olympic Games before the semifinal victory in which the U.S. squad battled the Canadians. By overtime, Team USA had used all its substitutions.
