How can New Jersey native Carli Lloyd and her team capitalize on their World Cup win?

Invariably, momentous sporting events like Sunday’s Women’s World Cup finals are the makers of legends. And, if the Twitterverse is any indication, the breakout star of the U.S. soccer team is New Jersey native Carli Lloyd, who was raised in Delran and graduated from Rutgers in 2004.A distinguished, two-time Olympic medal winner, Lloyd has been receiving praise for her World Cup performance, including a hat trick she earned during the team’s 5-2 win over Japan in the final game of the tournament.

Naturally, social media erupted with reactions across the spectrum, with #USWNT trending on Twitter. Under the hashtag, the top two profiles are for the U.S. soccer team and Carli Lloyd’s personal Twitter page.

In a move similar to last year’s altering of U.S. men’s goalie Tim Howard’s Wikipedia page to indicate his job as “Secretary of Defense,” Lloyd’s professional listing on her Wikipedia was changed to read “President” last night.

But, with the oversaturation of media on the Internet, cultural fascinations are ever-passing and their popularity tenuous at best. How can Carli Lloyd and, more broadly, Women’s Professional Soccer continue to build on this momentum?

According to Manish Tripathi, a marketing professor at Emory University, the answer is in the question: Using social media to get casual fans invested in the players, not just the sport.

“The answer has to be, ‘I like watching (goalkeeper) Hope Solo or Carli Lloyd,’” he said. “Once you become a fan of these women, if it’s easy enough to watch them on television and see them in the media all the time, then you might become a fan of that team.

“The problem is, if you think about who’s watching, the casual fans only watch soccer because it’s patriotic.”

Steve Rosner of the Rutherford-based marketing firm 16W says that, even without the fair weather fans, there is enough of a culture within the sport to support a future after a career-making performance such as Lloyd’s.

“There’s enough, from corporate sponsorships to motivational speaking,” he said. “The sport, I wouldn’t call it mainstream, but it does have a following and there are opportunities. There’s is life after playing, especially for someone like (Lloyd).”

As of Monday morning, all of the availabilities for Lloyd’s Medford-based summer soccer camp have been filled. And her web presence hasn’t died down either: Lloyd shared a photo of the team’s locker room celebration, which was picked up by Time.

And according to a report by NJ.com, Lloyd’s alma mater plans to honor her this fall.

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