It has been a dry spell in the world of sports: the NBA finals are over, baseball is slow, and football is just out of reach. But on July 5, sports fans tweeted and gathered around flat screens to watch American athleticism at its best.

The U.S. women's soccer team captured the attention of the nation with their 5-2 win over Japan in Vancouver, Canada, for the FIFA World Cup. Facing their bitter rival once again after a devastating loss in 2011 to Japan, the U.S. attacked the goal with full force.

Team captain Carli Lloyd scored two goals in the first five minutes of the game, and the crowd and social media exploded like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. Lauren Holiday came in at the 14th minute for the third score of the game.

Fans couldn't even catch their breath when Lloyd did the unthinkable and pulled off the first hat-trick in a World Cup, women and men, sending the ball past Japan's goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihora. Her continuous tenacity helped push the U.S. to a 4-1 lead at the half.

In the second half, the game settled down, and Japan scored an offensive goal off of a Julie Johnston header making the game 4-2. Soon after, Tobin Heath swooped in to ease the nerves at the 54th minute, giving the U.S. a comfortable lead at 5-2.

Veteran Abby Wambach replaced Heath with 12 minutes remaining. There was a touching moment where Lloyd gave Wambach her captain band before she took the field, knowing full well that it was Wambach's last World Cup.

After playing with phenomenal defense from Hope Solo as goalkeeper and a cohesive back-line, the final whistle blew, and the U.S. Women's soccer team celebrated a long anticipated win.