FootyPop: Boston Legacy Sign Lilly Reale

In this week’s women’s soccer news, Lilly Reale was traded to the Boston Legacy; Angel City is looking for a new head coach; the NWSL Challenge Cup is on the horizon; and more!

High of the Week​

The Boston Legacy made a splash  by trading for defender Lilly Reale. In exchange for the defender, Boston sent $350,000 in expansion allocation money and $50,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Gotham FC. Reale is a big signing for this expansion side that is still looking to create their identity; she’s a young talent that will be good for the club for a long time. She signed a contract through 2029 with the Boston Legacy.​

For Reale, the move makes a lot of sense. She goes back to her hometown of Boston, which is a special moment, but she also will likely see more playing time, which is important for her as she looks to keep her name in the USWNT pool ahead of the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Last season, Reale started in 24 matches for Gotham and was a key part in their 2025 NWSL Championship winning run. She was also named the 2025 Rookie of the Year. After her impressive season, she was also named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.

Before beginning her professional career with Gotham, she had a decorated four-year career at UCLA. With the Bruins, she started all 83 games she appeared in and led them to a National Championship in 2022 and two Pac-12 Championships. Individually, she also won three straight Defender of the Year awards.

Low of the Week

Angel City announced this week that they have parted ways with head coach Alex Straus. Right now, Leif Gunnar Smerud will serve as the interim head coach while the club searches for their next permanent head coach. The news comes after Angel City has struggled in recent matches. They’ve lost six of their last eight games, and their last win was on May 20th. Right now, they’re in 12th place, and for a club that wants to win championships, the results just weren’t good enough. In terms of results, the move isn’t that shocking, as they’ve struggled a ton this season, but Straus has only been with the club for a little over a year, so they didn’t really give him the time to create his environment and turn things around.

At the beginning of the season, it looked like Angel City was going to be very good this season with three straight wins, and in that stretch they scored nine goals, but since then they’ve only scored seven in eight games.

Straus came to Angel City in June of last year after spending three years as the head coach of Bayern Munich. His time at Bayern was very successful, leading the club to three straight Frauen- Bundesliga titles, but that same success didn’t translate to the NWSL.

With Straus out, Angel City is looking for their fourth head coach since beginning play in 2022.

News of the Week

This week has been the week of player news with so many faces joining new teams. Another blockbuster trade announced this week was that Angel City FC acquired Ally Sentnor from the Kansas City Current. In exchange for Sentnor, Kansas City received $850,000 in intra-league transfer fees. It’s her third team in the NWSL since joining the league in 2024. Sentnor is one of the brightest young stars in the league, so it’s a big addition for Angel City, especially since they’re a team that’s trying to get back on track.

Before coming to the NWSL, she played two seasons at North Carolina, where she scored 21 goals in 48 games. She then went on to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft by the Utah Royals. With Utah, she made 34 appearances, and she was a key component of the team. During the 2025 midseason, she was traded to the Kansas City Current. She struggled to make a splash with the Current, so she was on the move again.

It’s hard to tell how Sentnor will fit into Angel City, especially because they don’t have a permanent head coach at the time. If they can get the best out of Sentnor, it’ll be a great boost during the second half of the season.

Signing of the Week

Angel City has had a busy week, and in a shock move, they traded youngster Kennedy Fuller to Bay FC. In exchange for Fuller, Angel City received $500,000 in intra-league funds and $20,000 in allocation money. The midfielder was just 16 years old when she made her debut for Angel City in 2024. Since joining the club, she has made 56 appearances and scored seven goals. The addition of Fuller for Bay is another example of the club leaning into the young stars and trying to create a special team for the future. She’ll join a midfield that already has another young star in Claire Hutton; the combination of the two could be very good for this club for years to come. Fuller also has experience on the international stage with the youth USWNT teams, and right now she’s a part of the U-20 roster.

Win of the Week

The Washington Spirit announced a fun new sponsorship deal with Sol de Janeiro. With the partnership, they’ll create a new content series, and for the fans, they’ll be able to sample products at Spirit games. The press release also mentions that there will be “athlete-inspired limited edition drops”. Sol de Janeiro will also work to help the DC community and continue to help inspire young athletes. Sol de Janeiro is a skincare and fragrance brand that has many products like lotion, hair products, perfume, deodorant, and much more.

Fail of the Week

Barcelona failed to re-sign Salma Paralluelo, and she’ll leave the club at the end of her contract. It’s a big departure as Paralluelo has been a star since joining Barcelona, and at just 22 years old, she’ll wreak havoc on defenses for a long time. She joined Barcelona in 2022 and since then has scored 44 goals in 75 matches. With the club, she won quite a few team trophies, which include three UEFA Champions League titles. She’s also been successful on the international stage with Spain. She earned her first cap with the senior team in 2022 and was a key piece to their 2023 Women’s World Cup victory. There are a lot of teams that are interested in signing a goal scorer like Paralluelo. The Athletic has reported that Chelsea has sent an offer, but the forward has yet to pick a new destination.

What To Look Forward To​

The NWSL Challenge Cup is finally here with Gotham FC taking on the Kansas City Current in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, June 26. Both of these clubs are looking for their first Challenge Cup title. We’ve been patiently waiting for the NWSL play to get back underway, and we’ll get a little taste of that this weekend before the regular season gets back underway on July 3. These two clubs have already met once this season, with Kansas City getting a 2-1 win in April.