This is today’s Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook as heard on 97.9 WCHL. You can listen to previous Sports Notebooks here.

That may have been the greatest 16 minutes in the history of soccer.

If you turned on the women’s World Cup finals Sunday night from the opening kick, you may have seen something that has never happened before and may never happen again. Four goals against world-caliber competition by a team that did everything right, including picking the sun side of the field to shoot into in the first half.

Four goals – three by Carli Lloyd – later, the US Women were on the way to their third World Cup and first in 16 years. I’ve said before I don’t like the game because it lacks scoring, but it did not in Vancouver with the world watching. The spacing, the passing, the precision of our women in those first 16 had me and the millions watching in bars, on city streets and at home screaming with arms raised.

Lloyd, the 32-year-old ex-Rutgers star who now has 69 international goals and seems to be in the right place at the right time, had a hat trick that turned her 16 minutes of fame into a legendary lifetime. She was once a turnover-prone player who now never comes out and wore the captain’s arm band until she graciously turned it over to her iconic teammate Abby Wambach late in the game.

Lloyd sliced through the defense to drill Megan Rapinoe’s corner into the net.  Two minutes later, she emerged from a scrum in the box to guide another set piece past the stunned Japanese goalie. After Lauren Holliday scored in the 14th minute off a turnover, Lloyd cleared a long ball over the keeper who had wandered out too far and seemed to lose it in the sun shining through the roof at BC Place, which was a decided advantage for the USA! USA!

Japan had cut the lead in half when Carolina’s Tobin Heath, one of six Tar Heels on the team, turned another miscue into the goal that started the celebration and avenged losing to the same empire that won on PKs in 2011. Yes, Hope Solo gave up a goal for the first time in 550 minutes over four-plus shutouts, but a shout out goes to UNC’s Meghan Klingenberg and the back four defense that kept many shots from ever reaching Solo, who won the golden glove in the ceremony that took forever before these wondrous women finally had the medals around their necks and hoisted the World Cup trophy.

We watched history, indeed.

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