Four NJ Women Help Lead U.S. Soccer Team to Olympic Gold

Four Jersey girls helped make it happen.

Four New Jersey women on the U.S. Women's Soccer team — including Point Pleasant Borough High School graduate Christie Rampone, East Brunswick's Heather O'Reilly, Basking Ridge's Tobin Heath, and Delran's Carli Lloyd — helped their teammates get the gold on Thursday in an Olympic re-match of last year's World Cup final with Japan.

The game, aired on NBC Sports, ended with team members pulling on white T-shirts that say "Greatness Has Been Found" and posing for photos with the American flag.         

Rampone, clutching a corner of a flag, ran across the field, with a teammate holding the other side of the country's banner.

Lloyd who hails from Delran — next to Cinnaminson in South Jersey — was pivotal in the win: The midfielder scored both goals for the U.S.

O'Reilly of Canada in the semifinals.

Read local reaction to Heath's gold medal .

The U.S. Women's National Team now has its fourth gold medal and third straight. This was the much-hyped and anticipated re-match with 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup champion Japan in the soccer finale at Wembley Stadium in London.

Rampone, a Monmouth University soccer star and graduate who lives in Manasquan with her husband and two young daughters, is US team captain and plays defense.

To watch a video of Rampone and her coach and teammates talk, in advance, about the game with Japan on the US Soccer website, click here.

Lloyd has been profiled previously on . Lloyd was coached by Moorestown girls’ head soccer coach Bill Mulvihill.

O'Reilly retains close ties to East Brunswick and will be back .

Ridge High School grad Heath had participated in the Olympics in 2008, when the team also won gold, but she was a reserve player at that time. Her coach reminisces

Fans can catch up on all the post-game news via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt.

The USA was coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against Canada on Monday, while Japan defeated France 2-1 in the other semifinal match.

Rampone, 37, has said, in an interview with Patch last year, that this is her last Olympics, but that she will continue to play in the U.S. Read the interview for Rampone's reflections on the coaches and parents who told her she would never make it as a soccer player, as well as the coaches, family and friends who always supported her.

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