Lilly Reale

Last updated

Lilly Reale
Personal information
Full name Lilly Ann Reale [1]
Date of birth (2003-08-12) August 12, 2003 (age 21) [1]
Place of birth Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Center back
Team information
Current team
 NJ/NY Gotham FC
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2021–2024 UCLA Bruins 83 (3)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2025– NJ/NY Gotham FC 0 (0)
International career‡
2019 United States U-17 3 (0)
2022 United States U-20 9 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 17, 2022

Lilly Ann Reale (born August 12, 2003) is an American soccer player who plays as a center back for NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins, where she won the 2022 national championship and received the Honda Sports Award as a sophomore. She represented the United States at the youth international level.

Contents

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. [2] [3] She was raised in Hingham and started playing soccer at age three or four. [4] She played club soccer for South Shore Select alongside Ally Sentnor, a future NWSL top draft pick. [5] She attended Hingham High School, where she played at both forward and center back, scoring 15 goals as a freshman and 21 as a sophomore before sticking to defense. [2] [6] 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. [7] [8]

UCLA Bruins

Reale was a four-year starter for the UCLA Bruins, making 83 appearances from 2021 to 2024. [2] In her freshman year, 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 and TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI honors. [2] [11] UCLA went undefeated to win the Pac-12 conference title but were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament. [4] In her sophomore season, Reale was named the Pac-12 Defender of the Year and second-team All-American by United Soccer Coaches. [12] 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. [13] [14] After the season, she was awarded the Honda Sports Award as the best player in college soccer. [15]

Reale led the Bruins to win the Pac-12 again 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). [2] [16] With the program's move to the Big Ten Conference 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. [17] [18]

Club career

Gotham FC

NJ/NY Gotham FC announced on January 3, 2025, that they had signed Reale to a three-year contract. [19]

International career

Reale was first called into training camp with the United States national under-15 team in 2017. [2] [20] She played international friendly matches for the under-15 and under-16 teams in 2018 and the under-17 team the following year. [21] While in college, Reale started for the under-20s at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, winning the United States won. [22] She competed with the team at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, though they did not make it out of the group stage. [23] She played friendlies for the under-23 team in 2023. [24]

Honors

UCLA Bruins

Individual

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References

  1. 1 2 "Squad List: FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022" (PDF). FIFA. August 3, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lilly Reale – Women's Soccer". UCLA Bruins . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  3. ↑ Abrishamchian, Ava (June 10, 2024). "Lilly and Sophie Reale provide support to each other as sisters, teammates". Daily Bruin . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Whitaker, Grace (October 24, 2023). "Lilly Reale: The 'coach on the field' and voice that guides UCLA women's soccer". Daily Bruin . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  5. ↑ Sigal, Jonathan (April 30, 2019). "Reale, Sentnor called into US U-17s for new cycle" . New England Soccer Journal. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  6. ↑ Dudek, Greg (September 15, 2018). "Corner Kicks: Sophomore the (Lilly) Reale deal in Hingham". Boston Herald . Archived from the original on June 25, 2024.
  7. ↑ Sigal, Jonathan (August 11, 2020). "Lilly Reale verbally commits to UCLA for Class of 2021". New England Soccer Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  8. ↑ Wolcott Jr., David (February 18, 2021). "Hingham's Lilly Reale has a place set aside in UCLA's women's soccer program". Wicked Local . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  9. ↑ Dudek, Greg (September 21, 2021). "Hingham sisters Lilly and Sophie Reale starring on soccer pitch on opposite coasts". The Patriot Ledger . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  10. ↑ Fenn, Jay (October 1, 2021). "UCLA women's soccer concedes goal, maintains their undefeated streak". Daily Bruin . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  11. ↑ Clark, Travis (December 31, 2021). "Top young U.S. players in 2021". TopDrawerSoccer . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Lilly Reale Earns All-America Honors". UCLA Bruins. December 2, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  13. ↑ Wolcott Jr., David (December 9, 2022). "Hingham's Reale sisters pull off unreal pair of championship victories". Wicked Local . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  14. ↑ Doherty, Matt (December 9, 2022). "For Hingham's Lilly Reale, a dramatic comeback was the perfect way to win the NCAA women's soccer title". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on June 25, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Lilly Reale Wins Honda Sport Award for Soccer". UCLA Bruins. December 19, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Pac-12 announces 2023 women's soccer All-Conference honors". Pac-12 Conference. November 7, 2023. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  17. ↑ "UCLA Captures First-Ever Big Ten Title". UCLA Bruins. November 10, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Big Ten Conference Announces 2024 Women's Soccer Postseason Honors". Big Ten Conference. November 1, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Gotham FC Signs UCLA Defender Lilly Reale to Multi-Year Contract". NJ/NY Gotham FC. January 3, 2025. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ "U15 GNT heads to Texas for second 2017 camp". United States Soccer Federation. April 18, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
  21. ↑ "U16 GNT heads to Torneo Delle Nazioni". United States Soccer Federation. April 16, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
    "U15 GNT heads to Holland for two matches". United States Soccer Federation. May 25, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
    "US U17 WNT roster for tournament in Sweden". United States Soccer Federation. August 21, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
  22. ↑ "U23 WNT heading to Austin for training camp". United States Soccer Federation. January 13, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
    Clark, Travis (March 12, 2022). "USA wins Concacaf U20 Championship". TopDrawerSoccer . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  23. ↑ "USA Bows Out Of FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup With 3–1 Loss To Japan". United States Soccer Federation. August 17, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  24. ↑ "U.S. U23 WNT Defeats France 2–0". United States Soccer Federation. February 17, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
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