MT. PLEASANT, Iowa - A season for the ages from the No. 24 Ashford University men's soccer program is still in progress. That progress to date was recognized by the Midwest Collegiate Conference earlier this afternoon as annual league honors were announced.

A total of 30 student-athletes were voted by the league's coaches to the all-conference teams, including 14 to the First Team and an additional 16 to the Honorable Mention Team. AU put a total of six individuals on the all-conference team, tying Grand View University for the most selections.

The currently undefeated regular-season MCC champion Saints were rewarded with four selections to the First Team, another two to the Honorable Mention unit and garnered a pair of individual honors.

Ashford first-year Head Coach Richard Markham was recognized by his peers and honored with MCC Coach of the Year honors. Since taking over the men's program in January, he has yet to have a blemish in the loss column while at Ashford in 20 matches (18-0-2 overall).

Markham has guided the Saints to the title game of the MCC Tournament that will played on Thursday and to a ranking of 24th in the nation with his sights set on turning Ashford into a perennial power on the field.

Markham was handed the reins to the team by former Head Coach Mick Regan, who took sole responsibility of AU 12-win women's program. Regan's success while juggling both programs for five years can be illustrated with two MCC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year trophies, earned in 2004 and 2007.

"A lot of credit has to go to Coach Regan for bringing in the players," Markham praised. "He's done a fantastic job building the men's program up, slowly but surely, bringing in numbers and then talent. He has to take a lot of credit for our success. I'm the guy that inherited and got them to believe in themselves and their teammates and play hard every time."

"Along with (Assistant) Coach (Cale) Clark we've been working to be a calming presence and remind our guys why they're working hard," he added. "It's good teamwork all around to the coaches, support staff and trainers."

Freshman Geraldo Garza of Rockford, Ill., capped off a stellar rookie campaign with MCC Newcomer of the Year accolades. The bruising midfielder logged seven goals and six assists along with one game-winning score.

"The thing you love about Geraldo is he loves the game of soccer," Markham said. "He plays at the highest level every time he steps on the field. It doesn't matter who's on the field or what the other team's record is, you know what you're getting with Geraldo."

"Wherever you put him on the field, he's going to be a presence," he continued. "He's one of the foundations of our future. We'll be a strong team having players like Geraldo to build around."

Garza's older brother, Eddie, was hailed with first-team honors, leading the Saints with 14 goals and recording a trio of hat tricks in his final season. The Garza brothers were joined on the first-team ballot by junior goalkeeper Nick Roman of Belvidere, Ill., and senior defender Damian Ryan of Davenport.

Roman recorded an unprecedented 11 shutouts in goal and established himself as a premier goalkeeper in the nation. He covered angles, stoned breakaways and thwarted penalty kicks, en route to tying all NAIA net minders with 11 shutouts (Mt. Vernon Nazarene, University of Maine at Fort Kent).

Two well-deserved repeat selections are back on the all-conference team in Ryan of Davenport and Michael Handley of Webb City, Mo. The duo paired up to help form the MCC's top defense and arguably, one of the best in the nation.

Ryan roamed the field with reckless abandon, seemingly winning every ball in the air while recording a pair of back-to-back game-winning goals early in the season and Handley scored several critical goals, including one against Clarke College and another in Sunday's MCC Tournament semifinal win over Mt. Mercy College.

Junior transfer Vedran Ilic of Rockford, Ill., was a playmaker at the forward position, dishing out 12 assists to go along with four goals since transferring from the University of Akron. Ilic ranked eighth nationally with his dozen helpers and was an honorable mention all-league pick.

Grand View's Chris Scott received MCC Player of the Year honors.

The top-seeded Saints face No. 2 seed Viterbo University on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Rock Island, Ill., with the MCC Tournament title on the line. The game will be held once again at Augustana College on Ericson Field.