Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Defender Lilly Reale, the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League Rookie of the Year, has been traded from NJ/NY Gotham FC to expansion team Boston Legacy FC. In exchange, Gotham will receive $350k in allocation money and $50k in intraleague transfer fee funds. Reale joins the Legacy on a four-year deal that runs through December 2029.
Reale played college soccer at UCLA, winning the 2022 national championship with the Bruins and earning first-team All-American honors twice. As a rookie with Gotham, Reale appeared in all 26 regular-season matches, making 21 starts, winning the 2025 NWSL Championship and being named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team.
As a result of her strong league performances, Reale received her first-ever senior U.S. women’s national team call-up on June 18, 2025. She made her senior national team debut on June 26, 2025, against the Republic of Ireland. In 2025, she was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. She now has nine senior U.S. caps. Her last appearance came in the friendly series against Japan, eight minutes in the 3-0 victory on April 17.
This season, Reale has appeared in nine of Gotham’s 11 games. After starting the first five games of the season, the former Bruin missed nearly a month to injury and has not started or played more than 30 minutes in a match since.
“Understanding where this club is going and the direction that it’s going in excites me the most,” said Reale of her return to Boston in a release. “Being able to understand not only the investment that ownership from top down has really put into this club and then also the team and the direction they’re going in, understanding that this is the beginning, but that they’re really hungry and asserting a style that you don’t see as often, I think, in the NWSL – I think that really excites me, just being able to understand different playing styles and play whatever role I can on this team to help us get some wins.”
Reale should immediately improve one of the league’s worst defenses. The Legacy have yet to keep a clean sheet through 12 games played. The trade also moves Reale closer to her hometown of Hingham, Massachusetts, part of the greater Boston area.
