NEOSHO, Mo. - The Ashford University men's soccer team recently kept the heat on the opposition, taking home first-place honors at the Thunderdome Indoor Tournament on the campus of Crowder College.

The Saints, coming off an unprecedented year that featured an unblemished regular season record, a regular-season league title, conference tournament crown and NAIA National Championships appearance, rallied from four goals down to win in the finals, 6-5.

In its 28th year, the 24-team tournament draws in a number of teams from the Midwest region as far as Dallas, Houston and Omaha, while featuring alumni and prospective recruits.

That's the kind of competition that MCC Coach of the Year Richard Markham has been seeking for his team in a long offseason.

"We wanted to stay classy and I thought we showed well," Markham said. "There were a number of players that came up to us and said, 'Wow, your team plays hard,'. It was good competition now that we're in offseason mode."

Ashford triumphed over a team from Waco, Texas, to win top honors at the two-day event. According to Markham, the team from Waco had won the tournament for four years running.

AU toppled a team from Omaha in their first-round matchup, 9-1, the same squad that advanced to the finals in the 2009 Thunderdome event.

The Saints were down early in the championship match, 4-0, after the first eight minutes, but put together a fierce rally thanks to conditioning and stellar play of goalkeeper Nick Roman of Belvidere, Ill., and Rafael Machado of Sao Paolo, Brazil.

"Nick Roman was Nick Roman and Rafa was in contention for most valuable player honors," Markham said. "They played extremely well."

Ashford also took runner-up at the Loras Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa, falling 5-4 in the title game to the University of Dubuque. The Ashford women also took second-place honors in that respective tournament.

The Saints are scheduled to travel to Platteville, Wis., for another indoor tournament this weekend.