This article was provided by the NSCAA Women's Committee. You can find a recap of Day 1 here and Day 2 here. Photos credited to Jamie Squire (Getty Images) and Andrew Medichini (Associated Press).

The final day of Olympic Women's Soccer did not miss a beat in terms of the excitement, drama and high quality soccer that the entire two week tournament has provided.

Bronze Medal Match

Both Canada and France entered the game trying to put thoughts of "what-if" out of their mind, as both teams put in performance in the semi-finals, that could be argued, were worthy of an appearance in the decisive gold medal match. The first half and second halves were two completely different entities and both teams looked like they had little in the tank in a quiet first half that was everything that an action packed second half wasn't.

France did little to play to their technical and tactical strengths in the first half, as their ball movement was slow and their chances limited with only one real chance in the first half with Elodie Thomis firing over the bar, with Canadian star Christine Sinclair doing the same on the other side.

Watching the second half it appeared that France had all the chances in the world and were destined to get the bronze medal that eluded them in their final game against Sweden in the 2011 Women's World Cup. Both Elodie Thomis and Gaetene Thiney made some great runs down the line, eluding Canadian defenders with their technical ability and laying crosses into the box that were tantalizingly close to being finished many times.

About 15 minutes into the second half, French coach Bruno Bini began throwing his hand of cards at the Canadians, looking to put the game out of reach, inserting both Camile Abily and Eugenie Le Sommer, two very capable offensive players into the French side. Both had chances, as Abily fired a shot that was deflected into the hands of Canadian keeper Erin McLeod, while Le Sommer had numerous chances firing a sitter from six yards over the bar, while just missing wide off of a header off a corner. Arguably France's most dangerous player in the tournament Elodie Thomis fired off the cross bar on a half volley in the second half and once France found their width was a constant threat down the side. Yet as many an action film has shown us, if you don't finish off the enemy they will come back to bite you and the Canadians did so in the form of the smallest player on the pitch, Diana Matheson.

As overtime seemed destined to come, Matheson, latched onto a blocked Sophie Schmidt shot, and with French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi out of position, calmly finished her shot from eight yards out, sending the Canadian side into a frenzy, the result of their only shot on goal in the match. Perhaps seen to some as poetic justice for the lack of bounces they had in their semi-final match against the US, the Canadian found themselves on the podium, receiving the bronze medal, the first Canadian Summer Games team to do so, since 1936.

Gold Medal Match

The United States-Japan match was painted by media repeatedly as being a chance for redemption for the US after they had the World Cup taken from them by Japan, who captured the hearts of the world, as they brought home their first World Cup trophy on the heels on one of their country's biggest natural disasters. The biggest talk of Pia Sundhage's lineup was Shannon Boxx stepping in to replace Lauren Cheney, swapping Carli Lloyd into offensive center mid from the defensive position she occupied throughout the tournament behind Cheney. And Lloyd showed that she deserved to reclaim the starting spot that she had lost prior to London with a fantastic performance. 

The US did not take long to get on the board, as Tobin Heath drove down the left side of the field and laid a ball into Alex Morgan. Morgan took a big touch out of her spot in the penalty area and to the left side. She awkwardly swung a cross in with her left foot that Abby Wambach looked positioned to finish at the back post. But before Wambach got to the ball, Lloyd flew by from her central midfield spot and with an impressive dive finished the ball into the back of the net with her head, leaving the US with a 1-0 lead just eight minutes into the game.

Japan perhaps having flashbacks to their World Cup clash, remained composed, and had wave after wave of wonderful possession and fluid movement throughout the field. Hope Solo again showed why she is the number one keeper in the world as she made game saving saves throughout the game, the first when Nahomi Kawasumi crossed the ball to Shinobu Ohno, whose header Solo tipped onto the crossbar. The US again seemed to have the refereeing gods on their side as Tobin Heath had a blatant hand ball in the 26th minute, when an Aya Miyama free kick struck her extended arm, but referee Bibiana Steinhaus let the teams play on. Japan continued to press, but the teams went into half time tied 1-1.

Japan came out of the second half, doing much of the same, as they dominated possession and put on a beautiful display of the game. Yet it was Carli Lloyd who again seemed determined to have a hand in the final scoreline, as she dribbling through the Japanese midfield and unleashed a blistering right footed shot into the left side of goal, sending the American team wild with celebration in the 54th minute. Yet the Japanese did not fold and in the 63th minute the Japanese served notice that the game was far from over when, after a goal mouth scramble, Ogimi, who has been fantastic for Japan the entire tournament, calmly tapped the ball into the net, cutting Japan's lead down by one. Japan had more great chances as the game wore on, Miyama challenging Solo with her exquisite free kicks, and Solo needing to be sharp to save them. Yet the biggest chance to the Japanese fell in the 83rd minute, as the usual reliable Rampone, was stripped of the ball by Japanese youngster Mana Iwabuchi. Iwabuchi drove down the left side and took a shot that Solo dove and saved from harm's way. It was the last real chance for the Japanese, and the final whistle blew, with a 2-1 score line, with the US avenging their 2011 loss to the Japanese and stepping onto the podium as Olympic champions, for the fourth time in five tries.

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