Former Warlassies goalkeeper shines for Lipscomb University

CJ Graham earns ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honors for back-too-back shutouts against Miami and FIU

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
Sept. 1, 2021

CJ Graham, a standout on the Owen Warlassies soccer team that recorded back-to-back perfect seasons in the Western Highlands Conference from 2017 to 2019, earned ASUN Defensive Player of the Week honors for the Lipscomb University Bisons for a pair of shutouts against Miami and FIU. Graham has allowed only 1 goal in four starts for the Bisons, who opened the season 4-0 for the first time since joining NCAA Division I competition in 1999. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb University Athletics

CJ Graham had already won a state title as an eighth-grader for Asheville Christian Academy by the time she joined the Owen Warlassies soccer program in 2015, entering her freshman year at Nesbitt Discovery Academy. Her ability to neutralize the offensive attacks of her opponents was instrumental in leading the Warlassies to back-to-back undefeated seasons in the Western Highlands Conference from 2017 to 2019. 

The Swannanoa native is continuing to find success in front of the net at Lipscomb University, where the redshirt freshman was named the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week after two shutout performances against the University of Miami and Florida International University. 

Graham graduated from Nesbitt, a Buncombe County science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) school that does not include an athletics program, in 2019. As a resident of the Owen district, she was a member of the Warlassies varsity team for four seasons before signing with Lipscomb in 2018. 

She did not see any action for the Bisons in 2019 and appeared in four games, starting three of them, for the program in an abbreviated 2020 campaign. As the goalkeeper begins her first full season of competition, Graham has allowed only 1 goal through the first four matches for 4-0 Lipscomb. It is the first time the program has opened the season with four straight wins since joining NCAA Division I competition in 1999.

Graham and the Bisons began the 2021 season with a 2-1 victory at home against Mississippi State. The goal scored by the Bulldogs in the 48th minute of the contest remains the only goal allowed by Graham, who helped lead the Bisons to three consecutive shutouts against Austin Peay, Miami and FIU.

The Hurricanes, on Aug. 26, managed 13 shots against the defense of the Bisons, as Graham collected 4 saves in a 2-0 victory. Three days later, the Panthers found room for an identical number of shot attempts, while the goalkeeper again recorded 4 saves. 

The Bisons will host Pepperdine, which enters the contest ranked No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 2.