Sometimes, when an impressive opening act at the professional level and strong performances at the U23 camp string together, a first United States women’s national team call-up becomes inevitable.
So Margueritte Aozasa knew it was “on the horizon” for Lilly Reale, she told The Post. Everything had been trending in that direction.
The UCLA coach spoke with friends who worked with the Gotham FC and former Bruins defender at the U23 sessions earlier this year, gathered plenty of positive reviews and then watched as Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós surprised Reale with the news in a team meeting earlier this week.
Reale, one of three Gotham players (defender Emily Sonnett, midfielder Rose Lavelle) named to the training camp roster ahead of three upcoming friendlies, has already carved out a role as Gotham’s left back, starting 11 of their first 12 matches and blending her defensive roots with offensive potential.
She logged a goal and an assist in her first seven matches.
She made a seamless position switch after college, too.
And on a Gotham side filled with veterans, Reale has provided a jolt of youth to a lineup still searching for a rhythm as the NWSL season nears its five-week international break, with the USWNT chance just the latest tangible sign of her continued emergence.
“We’re trying to help her in the adaptation,” Amorós said Friday ahead of their Saturday match against Bay FC at Sports Illustrated Stadium, “but she’s helping herself.”
Reale’s route to Gotham veered away from the traditional one for college players, with the NWSL abolishing its draft last August in the new CBA.
That, Aozasa said, is ideal for someone such as Reale, who “should have the choice to go where she wants to go.”
She trained with Gotham briefly last summer — something that’s common around the league for college players during the offseason — and relied upon those experiences, as well as the chance to continue working with veterans such as Sonnett, when inking a deal in January that runs through 2027, Aozasa said.
By the time the season started, though, she’d already made a position switch.
After arriving at UCLA ahead of Reale’s sophomore season, Aozasa plugged her into the center back spot and watched her serve as the Bruins’ defensive anchor.
When they won the national championship in 2022, Reale earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the College Cup.
Then, as a senior, Reale helped them lead the country in goals against average and shutouts.
But during that final season in 2024, Aozasa sensed that Reale was ready to attack more.
She knew that Reale would never say she was bored, but sometimes Aozasa would think, “Oh man, she wants to make it interesting. She’s gonna go try to dribble 50 yards.” And most times, Aozasa added, “she was successful, so couldn’t really blame her.”
“I think the pro teams started to see some of her great attacking qualities,” Aozasa said, “and that’s why she’s made the transition to outside back at Gotham and has done so well with it.”
When Gotham faced Angel City FC on April 18, Aozasa brought the UCLA team, and from BMO Stadium she sensed that Reale’s transition to the NWSL — and the new position — was already working. Reale was “inviting pressure” against Angel City, and that, Aozasa said, doesn’t happen without being comfortable.
She used deception, and that requires comfort, too. The speed wasn’t a roadblock. Physicality didn’t prompt any obstacles, either.
Then, eight days later, Reale flashed her ability to create.
To streak up the left sideline.
To send an aggressive cross from just outside the 18-yard box that found the foot of Sarah Schupansky and then the back of the Washington Spirit’s net.
The offensive side of her skill set that couldn’t always materialize at center back, but it became a necessary layer of her adjustment.
And when all of that combined together, a national team call-up followed.