Leading the notables for the first days of 2025 is Gotham’s signing of UCLA center-back Lilly Reale, who is the current Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year.
In other player news, Arin Wright is set to stay with Racing Louisville for at least two more seasons. Meanwhile, Australian international Emily van Egmond leaves the San Diego Wave a year early via a “mutual” departure.
In coaching news, the Houston Dash finally have a permanent head coach: Fabrice Gautrat, who was an assistant coach with the North Carolina Courage and, before that, the Chicago Red Stars.
Additionally, on Thursday, Sportico reported that the Denver bid group for the second 2026 expansion team had “secured” an NWSL franchise and made its first expansion fee payment.
Gotham FC: UCLA defender Lilly Reale signed to three-year contract
On Friday (press release), Gotham announced the signing of center-back Lilly Reale via a contract that runs through the 2027 NWSL season. Reale is a three-time conference-wide Defensive Player of the Year, earning that honor as a sophomore and junior in the Pac-12 and again as a senior in the Big Ten.
Over her four years at UCLA (player profile), Reale started all 83 of her matches and played 7100 total minutes (average of 85 minutes per match). In that span, she scored 3 goals and tallied 4 assists. During UCLA’s NCAA Championship run in 2022, Reale played every minute of all six playoff matches, half of which went to 110 minutes.
Reale has over 20 United States youth national team call-ups from the U-15 to U-23 levels. She was a member of the U-20 USWYNT squads for the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup and the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship.
Reale was born and raised in the greater Boston area.
Reale is Gotham’s second rookie signee for the 2025 season. On December 23rd, the club signed Pitt forward Sarah Schupansky to a two-year contract.
Houston Dash: Courage assistant coach Fabrice Gautrat named as head coach
On Friday, the Dash announced that Fabrice Gautrat, who served as an assistant coach for the North Carolina Courage during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, had been hired as head coach. (January 3rd press release)
Prior to the Courage, Gautrat was an assistant coach with the Chicago Red Stars.
Gautrat has been married to current Orlando Pride player and former USWNT player Morgan (née Brian) Gautrat since November 2017.
The Dash had effectively been without a permanent head coach since late June. Previous head coach Fran Alonso officially separated from the club on October 1st. On December 4th, interim head coach Ricky Clarke departed the club.
Racing Louisville: Arin Wright re-signed via two-year contract with contingent option for 2027
On Friday (January 3rd press release), Racing announced that defender Arin Wright has signed a new contract, which runs through the 2026 NWSL season. The contract also includes a contingent option that will apply if she hits specified performance benchmarks in the 2026 season.
In 2024, the defender appeared in 22 regular season matches, starting all but one.
Wright was acquired by Racing ahead of the 2024 season via a trade with the Chicago Red Stars (January 2024 press release), who drafted her in the first round of the 2015 college draft. She also had loan spells to Australia’s Newcastle Jets.
At the University of Kentucky (player profile), Wright was primarily an outside back but was also utilized as a forward. She played 87 matches over four seasons, scoring 30 goals and registering 25 assists.
Wright (née Gilliland) attended at least 16 United States youth national team camps from the U-18 to U-23 levels.
San Diego Wave: Emily Van Egmond mutually departs club
Australian international midfielder Emily van Egmond and the Wave “have agreed to mutually terminate her contract” (January 3rd press release). Van Egmond was under contract through the 2025 season (January 2023 press release).
The 31-year-old van Egmond had been with the Wave since the start of its inaugural season in 2022. For the Wave, she had 70 appearances across all competitions and scored two goals.
First capped by the Matildas in 2010, van Egmond has been a mainstay for the Australia WNT, earning over 150 caps and scoring over 30 goals. She has been a member of every FIFA Women’s World Cup and Summer Olympics squad for Australia from 2011 through 2024.
Van Egmond has played for over a dozen pro clubs, including NWSl sides Seattle Reign, Chicago Red Stars, and the Orlando Pride, in addition to the Wave (Wikipedia bio).
Expansion: Denver bid group submitted first expansion fee payment – Sportico
On Thursday, Sportico reported that the Denver bid group had “secured” the NWSL’s second 2026 franchise and made its first expansion fee payment on December 31st. According to the article, the expansion fee is $110 million, which is roughly double the $53 million fee paid by its expected companion franchise, Boston.
Denver’s bid is led by Robert L. Cohen, who is the Chairman and CEO of IMA Financial Group. He is expected to be the controlling owner.
Other persons involved in the bid include retired NWSL player Jordan Angeli; Ben Hubbard, who is the CEO of Parsyl, a supply chain underwriter; Tom Dunmore, a sports executive; and Nicole Glaros (website bio). (2023 Denver Post article, December 2024 Sportico article)
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