A TEAM of Preston College footballers emerged victorious from a trip to the USA when they went undefeated to win the Presidents Day Soccer Tournament.

Calling themselves Atletico Preston they beat Erin Mills FC from Toronto 3-2 in the final of the tournement held in Phoenix, Arizona.

It was the eighth consecutive year a Preston College team have competed in the tournament against teams from Canada, Mexico and the USA. They have won it twice before and were runners-up in 1999.

Team coach, Dave Spence, said: "The team were truly outstanding, they played five games in 60 hours but they were the best there. They have done the college, the town and the country proud." Eighteen-year-old Matthew Aspinall was the team's top goalscorer with four goals.

Eighteen footballers, four coaching staff, and other students travelled via Chicago to San Diego, where they stayed three nights to acclimatise.

They visited the Californian beaches, Mexico, Sea World and went whale watching before going on to the tournament.

Winning the tournament has generated a lot of interest from American universities for Preston College students to progress on to scholarships in the US.

The contacts made there in the past have led to six students taking up scholarships, and other students have returned to the States to coach.

The trip was funded by the players own contributions and fundraising events.