HARRISON, NJ (January 24, 2024) – NJ/NY Gotham FC today announced that the club has acquired defender Sam Hiatt in a three-way trade with Racing Louisville and Seattle Reign FC. As a part of the trade, Gotham FC traded $60,000 in allocation money to Louisville for defender Julia Lester. The club then traded Lester and $20,000 in allocation money to Reign in exchange for Hiatt.
 
“I am excited to join Gotham, especially during such an exciting time for the club and the fans,” said Hiatt. “I am really looking forward to joining this team and I cannot wait to get to work.”
 
Hiatt joins Gotham FC after spending the last four years with Seattle, where she was the 33rd overall pick for the club at the 2020 NWSL Draft. Since 2021 with the Reign, she started in all 44 regular-season games she has appeared in, logging 3,832 minutes. The defender also helped Reign secure the 2022 NWSL Shield, which is awarded to the club with the best record at the conclusion of the regular season.
 
“Sam is a strong and consistent player, and we are very excited to have her as a part of our team,” said Gotham FC Head Coach Juan Carlos Amorós. “She is a confident player on the ball with the ability to organize the play from the back and an experienced defender for her young age. I am looking forward to working with Sam throughout the upcoming season.”
 
In the 2023 regular season, Hiatt appeared and started in 16 matches, recording 1,390 minutes, 44 duels won, as well as a successful pass rate of 81.7%. The defender also led her team in clearances with 65 and helped Reign to seven shutouts last season.
 
“Sam adds great competition to our backline, and we are very excited to have a player of her caliber join us,” said Gotham FC General Manager and Head of Soccer Operations Yael Averbuch West.
 
Prior to her professional career, the Kirkland, Washington native played collegiately at Stanford University from 2017-19 and Boston College in 2016. At Stanford, she led the team to two NCAA Championships (2017, 2019), three Pac-12 Championships, and three NCAA College Cup appearances.

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