.jpg) Reale withGotham FC in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lilly Ann Reale[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2003-08-12)August 12, 2003 (age 22)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Gotham FC | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2024 | UCLA Bruins | 83 | (3) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2025– | Gotham FC | 26 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | United States U-17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2022 | United States U-20 | 9 | (1) |
| 2023– | United States U-23 | 3 | (1) |
| 2025– | United States | 6 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of November 2, 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of December 1, 2025 | |||
Lilly Ann Reale (born August 12, 2003) is an American professionalsoccer player who plays as adefender forGotham FC of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and theUnited States national team.
Reale playedcollege soccer for theUCLA Bruins, winning the2022 national championship and earningfirst-team All-American honors twice. She was named thePac-12 orBig Ten Defender of the Year three times. She began her professional career with Gotham FC in 2025, winning theNWSL Championship andNWSL Rookie of the Year.
Reale represented the United States at the youth international level, appearing at the2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, before making her senior debut and being named theU.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2025.
Reale was born inBoston, Massachusetts, to Melissa and Jeff Reale, and has two younger siblings. Her sister, Sophie, played with her at UCLA for one season.[2][3] Reale was raised inHingham and started playing soccer at three or four.[4] She played club soccer for South Shore Select alongsideAlly Sentnor.[5] She played bothforward andcenter back atHingham High School, scoring 15 goals as a freshman and 21 as a sophomore before dedicating herself to defense.[2][6] She initially committed to play college soccer atBoston College, but after its head coach left, she changed her commitment to theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[7][8]
Reale was a four-year starter for theUCLA Bruins, making 83 appearances.[2] In her freshman season in 2021, she contributed to the team posting an eight-game shutout streak during the regular season.[9][10] She received All-Pac-12 Conference first-team andTopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI honors.[2][11] UCLA went undefeated to win the Pac-12 conference title but were upset in the first round of theNCAA tournament.[4] In her sophomore season in 2022, Reale was named thePac-12 Defender of the Year and second-team All-American byUnited Soccer Coaches.[12] In the2022 national title game, UCLA went down 2–0 toNorth Carolina but recovered late to win 3–2 in overtime. Reale played every minute of the NCAA tournament and was named itsMost Outstanding Defensive Player.[13][14] After the season, she was awarded theHonda Sports Award as the best player in college soccer.[15]
Reale led the Bruins to her second Pac-12 championship in her junior season in 2023. She was namedfirst-team All-American and became the only player to win consecutive Pac-12 Defender of the Year awards (and second to win twice overall afterNaomi Girma).[2][16] With the program's move to theBig Ten Conference in her senior season in 2024, Reale helped UCLA win theBig Ten tournament without conceding in three tournament games. She was named theBig Ten Defender of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten, and first-team All-American.[17][18]
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Gotham FC announced on January 3, 2025, that they had signed Reale to her first professional contract on a three-year deal.[19] Previously a center back in college, she was moved toleft back by head coachJuan Carlos Amorós.[20] She made her professional debut on March 15 as a substitute afterMandy Freeman was ejected late on the opening matchday against theSeattle Reign.[21] The following week, she scored anown goal two minutes into her first professional start, a 2–0 defeat to theOrlando Pride.[22] Despite the error, Amorós said she "was outstanding" over the rest of the game.[23] She scored her first professional goal for Gotham on April 13, heading in the third in a 3–1 win over theNorth Carolina Courage.[20] On May 25, she started in the2025 CONCACAF W Champions Cup final againstTigres and played the entire match as Gotham won 1–0 to become the inaugural winners of the competition.[24]
Reale played in all 26 league games, starting 21, as Gotham placed eighth in the standings.[25] She had one goal and logged over 1,900 minutes in the regular season, with onlyEmily Sonnett playing more for the team as a defender.[25] In the playoffs, she started all three games as Gotham defeated theNWSL Shield winnersKansas City Current in the quarterfinals, defending championsOrlando Pride in the semifinals, and theWashington Spirit in the final.[25] In thechampionship game, she wasbooked while containingRosemonde Kouassi and substituted out after 63 minutes as Gotham won 1–0 on a goal fromRose Lavelle.[26] She was named theNWSL Rookie of the Year and included in theNWSL Best XI Second Team at the end of the season.[27]
Reale began her second season at the inauguralFIFA Women's Champions Cup, dropping 1–0 toCorinthians in the semifinals, before assisting the opening goal againstAS FAR in the 4–0 win for third place at theEmirates Stadium on February 1, 2026.[28]
Reale was first called into training camp with the United Statesnational under-15 team in 2017.[2][29] She played international friendly matches for the under-15 andunder-16 teams in 2018 and theunder-17 team the following year.[30] While in college, Reale started for theunder-20s at the2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, winning the tournament.[31] She competed with the team at the2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, where they did not advance out of the group stage.[32] She played friendlies for theunder-23 team in 2023.[33] She was called up byEmma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing concurrently with thesenior national team, in January 2025.[34] In May 2025, Reale was called up to the under-23 team for two friendlies againstGermany, scoring in the first game.[35]
Hayes gave Reale her first senior national team call-up in June 2025.[36] She made her senior debut in the June 26 friendly against theRepublic of Ireland, playing the full match and assistingAlyssa Thompson in the 4–0 win.[37] She was named theU.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year following her early senior caps and her rookie season with Gotham FC.[38]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Continental[a] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gotham FC | 2025 | NWSL | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| Career total | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 1 | ||
| National Team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
UCLA Bruins
Gotham FC
United States U-20
Individual
