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Orem • His players weren't talking about it, so Greg Maas felt like he had to. During a team meeting over a week ago, Utah Valley University's men's soccer coach addressed the national rankings, which had the Wolverines as high as No. 8.

"Let's not pretend it's not there," he said.

Yet it is, and UVU is no longer flying under the radar. They still might have to take time to explain to folks on the road who they are and what they're doing in town. Senior forward Skyler Milne has his recycled response: "We're 10 minutes from BYU."

Junior midfielder Connor Salmon said during a road trip near Chicago, they were introduced as the "Utah Valley Warriors."

"Most people know who we are, and we've made enough noise to earn that respect, but it's still something we're earning," he said. 

They wear green and white, but ask around and there is swelling pride in the state that goes beyond colors or mascots or universities. UVU athletic director Vince Otoupal said he's received phone calls from ADs from around the state congratulating him on the success of Utah's lone men's Division I soccer program.

"We're the only school in the state that's able to do this," he said. 

Sights are set on another NCAA Tournament berth after their first in 2015, plus a run at the WAC championship and playing in front of the packed houses the No. 19 Wolverines have become accustomed to. In their first two years as a program, they've ranked in the Top 20 in overall attendance, regularly playing in front of as many as 3,000 fans. 

"I had no idea it would blow up into something like this," Milne said.

From scratch

The man who oversees UVU athletics leans against the bleachers at Clyde Field and tries to fashion an answer to the question: How have these Wolverines, in their third year in Division I, risen as quickly as they have? 

"A program from scratch," Otoupal said. "A scratch implies something's been done."

There was nothing done before Greg Maas was hired in 2013. The former technical director of Utah Youth Soccer, Maas was tasked with cultivating a program at a university that has lived in the shadow of BYU, the University of Utah and Utah State University. Thankfully, Maas says, he and his staff didn't have to dive right in. They had nearly 18 months before the team's inaugural match.

During that time, he bounced around the West, introducing himself to recruits and their parents. He had to repeat himself a few times when he explained who he was and where he was coaching. If he wasn't scouring Utah's talent, he was checking in on the top positional players in surrounding states.

"I felt that there was an opportunity to really build something special here in Utah," Maas said.

The Wolverines have not had a losing season. In their second year of existence, they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They received their first Top 25 ranking in 2015 — the first time any UVU program had been ranked at the Division I level.

Maas and his staff started by recruiting Utah first. Seventeen of the 29 Wolverines hail from the state; Salmon remembers that when receiving the news of UVU's new program while on his LDS Church mission in Oklahoma City, it was a relief.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to go play at a Division I program out of state," he said, "but it was just nice to know that it was going to be here in my backyard."

Milne had no D-I offers after he graduated from Brighton High. Instead of taking his chances at the University of Central Arkansas, he eventually made it to UVU.

"We've done a pretty good job trailblazing," Milne said.

Party's at Clyde Field

Weekday rush hour on Interstate-15 starts in plain view, but the beating drums and bagpipes blaring away on the field briefly drown out Utah's main transportation artery west of Clyde Field. Seven drummers in green spandex bodysuits pound away, while the pipers —  dressed in their kilts — welcome a late-arriving crowd.

Ten minutes before UVU kicks off against Gonzaga, the stands on the east side of the field are nearly bare. A large number of students are hanging out by a food truck or kicking a soccer ball around. Members of the UVU cheer squad take turns snapping selfies between backflips. 

After the bagpipes introduce UVU's starting lineup, the patch of grass below the now-full bleachers — where rowdy students stand — grows in size. Some have UVU soccer scarves draped around their neck. Others wrap themselves in a UVU flag. For the next two hours, Clyde Field transforms from a quiet, run-of-the-mill backdrop to the must-see event the Wolverines have marketed themselves as since their inception. 

"We had an opportunity to build some traditions because we didn't have any here," Maas said.

Sophomore midfielder Aaron Meyer casually curls in a fabulous free kick — the eventual game-winner — in the 23rd minute. The student section swarms in celebration. The guys in green again pound away on the drums as UVU improved to 5-1-0 entering the weekend.

"What's in the water?" Otoupal said. "It's a great question, because as soon as we figure it out, we're going to bottle it and hand it off to other folks."

Twitter: @chriskamrani —

On the rise

UVU men's soccer program, year-by-year:

2014 • 9-7-2

2015 • 14-6-2, NCAA Tournament at-large berth

2016 • 5-1-0 entering this weekend

Program highlights

• Ranked No. 12 (2014) and No. 16 (2015) nationwide in attendance

• Seventeen players on UVU's 29-man roster hails from Utah

• Had the No. 12-rated recruiting class a year ago

• A three-story press box at Clyde Field is anticipated to be finished by Aug. 2017