PARIS – Her banger of a goal was so loud that Trinity Rodman blacked out.

In the 107th minute of a tense Olympic showdown between the United States and Japan, Rodman made the biggest play of her 22-year-old life.

“In games like this,” U.S. teammate and Colorado native Mallory Swanson said, “it sometimes takes a little bit of magic, a little bit of individual brilliance. And that’s what ‘Trin’ did.”

Yes, you NBA fans hopping on the USWNT bandwagon, ‘Trin’ is the daughter of that Dennis, famous for his tattoos, piercings and tenacious D.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the iconic stadium known as Parc des Princes, Rodman blasted a shot that wormed its way over the head of goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita and put the USA back at the center of the world soccer map with a 1-0 victory in a win-or-go-home match in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament.

Rodman would like to tell you exactly how it happened, except for one minor problem.

She doesn’t remember any of it.

“Remind me,” Rodman said. “I blacked out.”

When I asked Rodman if blacking out is the same as being in the zone, she nearly fell down laughing.

“No,” she replied. “The last thing I remember is (teammate) Crystal (Dunn) playing the ball, and I was like: ‘Ah .. ah .. ah!’”

That temporary moment of panic, however, gave birth to absolute soccer brilliance. Rodman collected a well-weighted pass at the right edge of the box, instinctively went to a quick chop move that broke the ankles of defender Hikaru Kitagawa in a way that did her NBA heritage proud.

And, then as our friend Snoop might say, she dropped her left foot and fired a shot like it was hot.

Sacrebleu!

With both Snoop Dogg and Mia Hamm among the parishioners that came to worship in this French cathedral of futbol, the holy bolt out of the blue moment was a lightning strike from Rodman that joyously swung the netting in the upper 90 of the goal.

“That was the only way we were going to find a goal in that game,” Rodman said.

Sacrebleu!

With Japan stubbornly committed to a defensive-oriented 5-4-1 alignment that invited the faster American side to keep possession until frustration left the U.S. women blue in the face, this victory was more an act of will than a thing of beauty.

“It’s not always flashy, and it’s not always what fans want to see,” U.S. said coach Emma Hayes, who admitted after a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation time, she began preparing herself mentally for the very real possibility the outcome would be determined by penalty kicks. “But this is football, and football requires different tactical abilities from game to game. And we played the right game for the right opponent.”

This game was a test of American grit, particularly for captain and Colorado native Lindsey Horan, who often moved one dance step behind the rhythm of the game in the midfield, with her errant passes too often landing at the boot of Japanese players.

Horan, however, never got flustered. And her faith never wavered.

“We had so much belief, so much confidence a goal was going to happen,” Horan said, “that we knew it might take individual brilliance, a set piece or a PK. But I knew something good was going to happen. I kept saying it to the team. They kept saying it. I believed. We believed. And when it happens like that, it’s so, so pretty.”

When the exhausting 120 minutes of this match was over, Horan clutched both hands to her temples to give brief thanks for surviving and advancing to a semifinal game on Tuesday in Lyon.

Then, she spotted Japanese captain Saki Kumagai nearby, flat on her back, motionless with grief on the pitch. Horan took three strides, gently bent over her foe, and gathered up Kumagai in a hug filled with compassion and the respect for a battle well fought by two teams with legit hopes of winning gold.

“Let yourself enjoy this one,” Horan told her U.S. teammates after the grueling match.

And how was Horan going to celebrate?

A delicious dinner in a Paris bistro? Or perhaps a glass of champagne?

“Well,” said Horan, her body aching, “I get to go jump in an ice bath now.”