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Maggie Graham
Margaret Isabel Graham (born July 10, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Duke Blue Devils, where she was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Midfielder of the Year and first-team All-American in her graduate season. Early life and college careerGraham grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, one of two daughters born to Chris and Marie Graham.[2] She is of Cuban descent.[3] Her father rowed crew at Cornell, and her older sister, Delaney, played soccer alongside her at Duke. She played attended the Westminster Schools, where she played multiple sports for one or two seasons each, including soccer, basketball, track, and cross country, in which she won a state championship. She played DA club soccer for NTH Tophat, which she captained for four years. She appeared in friendlies for the United States youth national team at the under-16 and under-18 level, scoring against China U18 in 2020.[2] Duke Blue DevilsGraham made 21 appearances (10 starts) for the Duke Blue Devils as a freshman in 2020, a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She started all three games in the NCAA tournament, assisting Sophie Jones's golden goal against Arizona State in the second round and making her penalty kick a quarterfinal shootout loss to Florida State. She appeared in 20 games (4 starts) in her sophomore season. She provided the winning assist to her sister in a 1–0 win against Memphis in the second round of the NCAA tournament as Duke returned the quarterfinals, falling to Santa Clara.[2][4] Graham played a bigger role in her junior season in 2022, making 22 appearances (20 starts) and scoring 4 goals with 6 assists, with all of her assists in conference play. In the semifinals of the ACC tournament, she was sent off with a straight red card after showing two middle fingers to her North Carolina opponent; Duke lost on penalties after a 0–0 draw. After sitting out the opening round of the NCAA tournament, she started three games as Duke returned to the national quarterfinals, where they lost 3–2 to Alabama in overtime.[2][5] In her senior year, she started 16 games and scored one goal with one assist in a down season for Duke, who failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.[2][6] Graham returned for a fifth season in 2024, using her extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. She started 22 games, led the team with 14 goals (more than doubling her career total), and added 5 assists. She scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against North Carolina during non-conference play, which marked Duke's first-ever home win against the Tar Heels, and she scored Duke's third goal in a 3–2 win against North Carolina during the ACC regular season.[2][7] She scored a hat trick and assisted in a 4–1 away win against Stanford as Duke went undefeated in conference play to claim the ACC regular-season title. In the NCAA tournament, she scored two goals in each of the first two games as Duke reached the semifinals, where they lost 3–0 to North Carolina. After the 2024 season, she was named first-team All-ACC, the ACC Midfielder of the Year, and first-team All-American. She was one of three Duke players to make more than 100 career appearances alongside her sister and Mackenzie Pluck.[2][8] Club careerHouston DashThe Houston Dash announced on January 21, 2025, that they had signed Graham to a three-year contract. She was the club's first college signing after the abolition of the college draft.[9] Honors and awardsDuke Blue Devils
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