Wolverines targeted with school's first-ever Top 25 bid


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OREM — Utah Valley midfielder Karson Payton knows what it's like to be the hunter.

The former Timpview High standout recalled the time his Wolverines stunned then-No. 21 Denver a year ago in the program's first-ever season of Division I soccer.

Now Payton and his teammates get to experience another first: being the hunted.

UVU (9-2, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) debuted in the NSCAA Top 25 national rankings a week ago and moved up to No. 23 Tuesday, becoming the first-ever team to finish inside the top 25 of a national poll in school history.

But the season is young with just over a week into WAC play, Payton said, and the target will likely only get bigger from the Wolverines' inaugural season.

"People are out to knock off a top-25 program," he said. "We were there last year. Now we are one of those teams that people want to knock off. It puts a whole lot of pressure on us.

"It takes a lot of confidence from each player to settle the nerves and play the best they can," he said. "But the past two weeks, we've been down a goal and came back. The maturity on our team this year is a complete difference from last year."

Payton is a key contributor in that maturity. The 23-year-old college sophomore and former Real Salt Lake Academy player leads the team with four goals and three assists, and he's settled into a leadership role on a team that features 17 sophomores, seven freshmen and four juniors.

UVU's Karson Payton scores the first ever goal as Utah Valley University plays UMass in UVU men's soccer inaugural match Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, in Orem. (Tom Smart/Deseret News)
UVU's Karson Payton scores the first ever goal as Utah Valley University plays UMass in UVU men's soccer inaugural match Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014, in Orem. (Tom Smart/Deseret News)

It also helps that the Wolverines only lost one senior from a year ago and are playing with a roster that includes just one more senior in walk-on defender Tyler Brown.

In other words, UVU hopes its break into the top 25 isn't short-lived.

"The core of the group is back, and we are all very cohesive with one another," Payton said. "We play knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. We coach each other up and help each other get the best out of the game. We play each other, and we have that year with one another that really helped us to get to where we are now."

The soccer debut in the top 25 was also the highest ranking by a UVU sport since the baseball team was ranked as high as No. 27 in 2012 while playing in the non-NCAA automatic qualifying Great West Conference.

It's not an event that happens every day at the Orem-based college that is currently the largest public college in the state of Utah.

"It's a tremendous honor, and a historic moment for UVU athletics," coach Greg Maas said. "We had tremendous faith in our players, and our staff has done a great job of preparing them. But they've been executing in these matches, and they've really put in the work to get themselves recognized. To be ranked in the Top 25 and to be the first program in UVU history to do that is certainly something special."

The Wolverines added plenty of talent through a talented recruiting class, including former FC Dallas Academy product Aaron Meyer, who has three goals and six assists in his first year of college soccer.

"Aaron Meyer has been nothing short of fantastic for our group in the middle," Maas said. "He helps to really stabilize central midfield and dictate the rhythm of the game. He scores goals, creates assists and he's fantastic on set pieces, which is an area that we've focused on significantly this year where we struggled last year."

Maas also pointed to the versatility of former Brighton standout Skyler Milne and Timpanogos graduate Austin Buxton in helping the program take the next step in its second season of play, as well as the defensive effort of sophomore center back Giovanny Vasquez from Roy. Buxton has four goals and an assist on the year, while Milne adds three goals and two helpers.

"I've always said the expectations of this team have been high, but they've been higher for our players and staff," Maas said. "There is a certain amount of validation that goes along with being recognized as one of the top 25 programs. It is early, and it's a tremendous amount of responsibility on our shoulders. For us, we're taking that honor very seriously and working very hard."

The Wolverines are taking the rare national ranking for Utah's only Division I men's soccer program the only way they know how: by focusing on the next match, which comes during a two-match road swing at UT-Rio Grande Valley and Houston Baptist this weekend.

"This weekend, if we don't focus on Houston Baptist or Rio Grande Valley, the rankings won't mean anything to any of us," Payton said. "It's definitely rewarding, but it puts pressure on us to keep fighting and do what we know we need to do on the field and off it."

Related stories

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

Sports
Sean Walker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast