After lashing home the extra time winner in Wednesday's gold medal match with Brazil, U.S. Women's National Team ace Carli Lloyd declared the team's spirit to be the key element to their championship run.

The Lady 'Nats entered play without familiar faces Kristine Lilly, Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill, and an opening defeat to Norway dampened expectations for the young team in China.

However, they righted the ship and held off a mesmerizing Samba Queen attack to edge a 1-0 win in the final.

"I have to say that after the first game, I didn't know the gold medal would be possible," Lloyd told reporters. "But, we took it one game at a time and kept believing in ourselves."

As for her lefty strike from just outside the area, the attacker recalls it as happening in a flash.

"I remember getting the ball, playing it into (Amy Rodriguez), she laid it back, and I knew I just needed to keep it low, strike it hard and it went in," said Lloyd. "It was an unbelievable feeling."