Lilly Reale

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
 UCLA Bruins
Number 4
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– UCLA Bruins 60 (2)
International career‡
2019 United States U-17 3 (0)
2022 United States U-20 9 (1)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 17, 2022

Lilly Ann Reale (born August 12, 2003) is an American college soccer player who plays as a center back for the UCLA Bruins. She won an NCAA championship and received the Honda Sports Award with the Bruins in 2022. She represented the United States at the youth international level.

Early life

Reale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Melissa and Jeff Reale, and has two younger siblings, including a sister, Sophie, who plays 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 top NWSL 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] In the fall of 2020, she committed to the University of California, Los Angeles, switching her prior commitment from Boston College after the departure of head coach Alison Foley.[7][8]

College career

Reale started for the UCLA Bruins from her freshman year in 2021.[9] 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 title but were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament.[4] The next season, Reale was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-American by United Soccer Coaches.[12] In the 2022 national championship game, UCLA went down 2–0 to North Carolina but recovered late to win 3–2 in overtime. Reale was named the most outstanding defensive player of the NCAA tournament, having played every minute.[13][14] 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]

International career

Reale was first called into training camp with the United States national under-15 team in 2017.[2][17] She played international friendly matches for the under-15 and under-16 teams in 2018 and the under-17 team the following year.[18] While in college, Reale started for the under-20s at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, winning the United States won.[19] 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.[20] She played friendlies for the under-23 team in 2023.[21]

Honors

UCLA Bruins

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e "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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ "U15 GNT heads to Texas for second 2017 camp". United States Soccer Federation. April 18, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "U.S. U23 WNT Defeats France 2–0". United States Soccer Federation. February 17, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.