18 January 2006 - Lilly Travels To The Third Century

On 18 January 2006, United States forward/midfielder and captain Kristine Lilly became the first player--male or female--to reach 300 caps when she appeared against Norway in the Four Nations Tournament.

Lilly joined the USWNT in 1987 while she was still in high school and has helped them claim several honors, including two World Cups (1991, 1999) and two Olympic gold medals (1996, 2004).

In the 2006 Four Nations Tournament, the US won their match against Norway, 3-1. Lilly contributed the opening goal, her 105th, which tied her with Michelle Akers for second place on the USWNT's all-time goal scoring list. She has since passed Akers to hold second place outright, scoring a total of 129 goals in 342 appearances.

You can view highlights of Lilly's 300th international appearance here.

30 November 1991 - Akers Aweigh

On 30 November 1991, the United States women's national team beat Norway 2-1 in the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup Final before a crowd of 63,000 at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, China.

The United States entered the Final after winning all of their previous matches in the tournament, including a 5-0 hammering of Brazil in the group stage, a 7-0 demolition of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, and a 5-2 victory over Germany in the semifinals. Norway, meanwhile, had opened the tournament with a 4-0 defeat to hosts China, but then put together a string of wins to reach the Final, including a convincing 4-1 victory over Sweden in the semifinals.

US midfielder/forward Michelle Akers (pictured) entered the Final as the Cup's leading scorer with 8 (5 of which came in the win over Chinese Taipei). True to form, she gave the Americans the lead with a goal in the 20th minute, but Norway struck back with a 29th-minute equalizer from forward Linda Medalen. The match remained even until the 78th minute, when Akers pounced on a stray back pass from Norway's Tina Svensson and sidestepped keeper Reidun Seth to tap the ball into the open net. The goal gave the United States the win and upped Akers' tally to 10, making her the tournament's top scorer.

Norway got their revenge in 1995, when they eliminated the United States in the quarterfinals, 1-0, then beat Germany in the Final.