# Lilly Reale

Lilly Ann Reale (born August 12, 2003) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins, winning the 2022 national championship and earning All-American honors three times. She represented the United States at the youth international level.

## Early life and college career

Reale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Melissa and Jeff Reale, and has two younger siblings, including a sister, Sophie, who played with her at UCLA. She was raised in Hingham and started playing soccer at age three or four. She played club soccer for South Shore Select alongside Ally Sentnor. She played at both forward and center back at Hingham High School, scoring 15 goals as a freshman and 21 as a sophomore before dedicating herself to defense. She initially committed to play college soccer at Boston College, but after its head coach left, she changed her commitment to the University of California, Los Angeles.

### UCLA Bruins

Reale was a four-year starter for the UCLA Bruins, making 83 appearances from 2021 to 2024. In her freshman year, she contributed to the team posting an eight-game shutout streak during the regular season. She received All-Pac-12 Conference first-team and TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI honors. UCLA went undefeated to win the Pac-12 conference title but were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In her sophomore season in 2022, Reale was named the Pac-12 Defender of the Year and second-team All-American by United Soccer Coaches. In the 2022 national title game, UCLA went down 2–0 to North Carolina but recovered late to win 3–2 in overtime. Reale played every minute of the NCAA tournament and was named its most outstanding defensive player. After the season, she was awarded the Honda Sports Award as the best player in college soccer.
Reale led the Bruins to her second Pac-12 championship in her junior season in 2023. She was named first-team All-American and became the only player to win consecutive Pac-12 Defender of the Year awards (and second to win twice overall after Naomi Girma). With the program's move to the Big Ten Conference in her senior season in 2024, Reale helped UCLA win the Big Ten championship without conceding in its three tournament games. She was named the Big Ten Defender of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten, and first-team All-American.

## Club career
### Gotham FC

NJ/NY Gotham FC announced on January 3, 2025, that they had signed Reale to her first professional contract on a three-year deal. She made her professional debut on March 15, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute for Sarah Schupansky after right back Mandy Freeman was ejected from the season opener, a 1–1 draw against the Seattle Reign.

## International career

Reale was first called into training camp with the United States national under-15 team in 2017. She played international friendly matches for the under-15 and under-16 teams in 2018 and the under-17 team the following year. While in college, Reale started for the under-20s at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, winning the United States won. She competed with the team at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, where they did not advance out of the group stage. She played friendlies for the under-23 team in 2023. She was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing alongside the senior national team, in January 2025.

## Honors

UCLA Bruins
* NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament: 2022
* Pac-12 Conference: 2021, 2023
* Big Ten women's soccer tournament: 2024
Individual
* NCAA Division I First-Team All-America: 2023
* Pac-12 Defender of the Year: 2022, 2023
* Big Ten Defender of the Year: 2024