Northern Utah soccer standouts building UVU tradition
Chandler Baddley middle prepares for a Utah Valley University game earlier this season. Baddley played at Bonneville High School.
Lucas Cawley fires a pass during a recent Utah Valley men's soccer game. Cawlery played at Viewmont High School.
Alex Neff, middle, helps Utah Valley University defeat the Gonzaga for Homecoming 2-0, on Clyde Field, Friday Sept.12, 2014, at Utah Valley University. Neff attended Northridge High School
OREM – Chandler Baddley can’t help feeling a little like a rock star at times.
Every time he goes to class or just hangs out on campus, Baddley senses a special vibe when he walks into the room. People know who he is and express how what he is doing is so cool.
It hasn’t taken the former Bonneville High standout long to see that men’s soccer isn’t just another sport at Utah Valley University.
“Since we don’t have a football team, the soccer team is the big deal at UVU,” said Baddley, who is a starting defender for the Wolverines. “No matter where you are, people wish you luck in your games. They’re always supporting you. Everyone recognizes the soccer team. The teachers all know you and wish you luck. It’s cool. You feel like a celebrity.”
UVU has carved out a distinctive athletic identity by going in a much different direction than the other NCAA Division I schools in Utah. It started a few seasons ago when the Wolverines started a wrestling program. Adding a men’s soccer program in 2014 only served to further that athletic uniqueness.
The Wolverines launched a men’s soccer team as a condition for joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2013. UVU is not your typical first-year program, however, with a roster stocked deep with talented players from all over Utah and beyond.
Many athletes from Northern Utah have taken their talents south to help build a new soccer tradition at UVU. A few of them are already playing key roles for the Wolverines. Baddley and Alex Neff, a former Northridge standout, are starters in the defensive backfield. Former Viewmont star Lucas Cawley is UVU’s second leading scorer through its first five games – accounting for three goals.
UVU coach Greg Maas says he and his assistant coaches are bombarded with emails and phone calls daily from prospective athletes who want to play for an NCAA Division I team in Utah.
“We’re drawing up to 3,000 fans a game,” Maas said. “We’ve been on national television. It has really opened the doors and our borders to a lot of interest from around the country and around the world.”
Early success for the Wolverines is sure to only increase the demand to be a part of the action. UVU has won its first three home matches of the 2014 season – which included a 2-1 upset victory over then No. 21 Denver.
UVU is now 4-3-0 on the season and earned its first road victory on Friday — a 1-0 result over UC Riverside in Las Vegas. The Wolverines lost to No. 4 UC Irvine 2-1 in double overtime on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Under Maas, the Wolverines have developed a reputation for being technically sound and tactically smart from game to game.
“We’re a very dangerous team,” Cawley said. “We move and possess the ball great. That’s one of our biggest qualities – we try and play the right way. We try and model ourselves after the RSL team and we try to play as one. That’s really our team motto.”
Soccer fans in Orem have embraced UVU with unparalleled enthusiasm. The Wolverines have drawn an average of 2,754 fans for their first three home matches – peaking at a crowd of 3,029 showing up for the team’s 2-0 win over Gonzaga.
It creates a frenzied atmosphere that gives UVU an extra spark at home.
“Our fans are unbelievable,” Neff said. “The momentum they give us in the beginning of the game and during the game is unreal. Our home field advantage is one of the best in the nation. It will only get bigger and better for us.”
It appears things are destined to get bigger and better on the field too.
Maas has noted that the players continue to find new ways to improve each week. They push each other in practice and are doing everything they can to match what they have seen and continue to see from tough opponents on the schedule.
“We’re on track,” Maas said. “We continue to show improvement individually and collectively each game. Our training sessions have been much sharper day to day. We’re starting to understand how we want to approach each game both technically and tactically.”
Make no mistake, UVU does not have modest goals for its inaugural season. The Wolverines feel like they are the designated flag-bearer for the highest level of soccer in Utah. It isn’t just about representing their university. It’s also about representing the entire state.
That’s why UVU aims to exceed expectations and emerge as a true contender for a WAC soccer title and a potential NCAA Tournament berth in its first season.
“We expect the best from ourselves,” Cawley said. “We set the bar highest for ourselves and we expect nothing less than to go for a WAC championship. That’s going to be our bar. I know other people have bars lower for us that would be considered a success. But with the talent on this team, and the way the players are growing, we expect to win that.”