Texas A&M International University Men's Soccer

Arias returns for his tenth season as Head Coach of the TAMIU Mens soccer team.  A two-time Heartland Conference Coach of the Year, Coach Arias has helped to transform the Dustdevils into one of the preeminent soccer programs in the country.  Under Arias the Dustdevils have won two of the last three Heartland Conference Championships and earned the first national ranking of any team in TAMIU athletics history. In their most recent season, the team bounced back from a slow start finishing with an 8-0-2 record in their last 10 games.  Despite the late push, the Dustdevils finished one game shy of their third straight conference title finishing as the runner up. Prior to arriving at TAMIU, Arias served four seasons as head coach at Southern Wesleyan University (SWU) in South Carolina. He led SWU to the 2003 Georgia-Alabama-Carolinas Conference title, with a 2-1 overtime win over nationally-ranked (#2) Auburn-Montgomery in the semifinals.  Arias played collegiate soccer for Bryan College in Tennessee where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. He also holds a master's in health and exercise science from Furman University. Arias played professionally for the Shreveport-Bossier Lions of the USISL and the Greenville Lions of the PDL as well. Arias was also part of the youth professional system of Deportes Concepción in Chile. He holds a Premier National Diploma with the NSCAA and an "A" license with the USSF. Arias has compiled an impressive 98-62-18 record in ten seasons as head coach for the TAMIU men and a 141-100-19 overall record in 13 seasons as a men's head coach.  In his first season at the helm in 2004, Arias led the Dustdevils to a 14-5-1 overall record and their second straight Red River Athletic Conference title. That team advanced to the championship game of the NAIA Region VI Tournament against Southern Nazarene. Arias guided the Dustdevils to a 10-8-1 mark in 2005, marking the team's fourth straight winning season. TAMIU made the jump from the Red River Athletic Conference and NAIA to the NCAA Division II ranks in 2006. Arias established the foundation of a winning NCAA program by guiding the team to a 14-16-2 overall record in two seasons as a provisional Division II member. Arias was named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 after leading the Dustdevils to a 12-5-1 overall record and 5-4-1 league mark in the team's first season competing as an active NCAA Division II member.  TAMIU established a school-record nine-game winning streak in 2008, finishing the campaign with a 9-1-1 mark over its last eleven games. In their 2010 campaign, the Dustdevils secured a share of the conference title with a monumental 2-1 home win over St. Edward's on Halloween night before clinching the championship outright with a 1-0 road win over Newman. In the 2011 season, the Dustdevils finished with an overall record of 12-3-2 and a perfect 8-0 record in conference play grabbing their second consecutive Heartland Conference Championship along with Coach Arias second selection as Conference Coach of the Year.  The Dustdevils made their debut in the national rankings at No. 22 on September 13, 2011 and climbed as high as 15, before finishing the season at No. 19. A total of 39 players have earned all-conference honors under Arias' tutelage.  Most recently, six members of the mens soccer team were selected to the 2012 All-Heartland Conference Team.  Selected to the first team were Diego Manzano-Cano, Joan Vallejo, and Adan Villavicencio, while Juan Sebastian Ramirez, Jovany Macias, and Jesus Chuy Cisneros were named to the second team.  Vallejo and Cano were also named to the NSCAA All-Region second team. In 2011 a school record nine players were chosen to the All-Conference Team in addition to TAMIUs three major individual awards.  Senior goalkeeper Emmanuel Frias was named Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year went to sophomore Diego Manzano-Cano, and Jovany Macias was  named Freshman of the Year.  Cano and Salas were also selected to the NSCAA All-Region first team, while Emmanuel Frias, Adan Villavicencio and Jovany Macias were selected to the second team.  Manzano-Cano was the only player selected to the Daktronics South Central All-Region First Team.  In 2010, seven players earned All-Heartland Conference honors, with Soamy Bautista, Leonard Ramos and Luís Salas earning first-team honors and Alejandro De la Fuente, Julian Hierro, Kristian Qunitana and Abel Villavicencio earning second-team honors. Two of his most notable standouts to ever play under Coach Arias were Daniel Hermosillo and Greg Mulamba.  Hermosillo was a two-time Red River Athletic Conference first-team pick and one-time NAIA All-American under Arias.  Mulamba was a two-time first-team All-Heartland Conference pick who ended his outstanding career in 2008 by being selected as conference Player of the Year and Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year.  Baustista ended his career as a four-time All Heartland selectee and Hierro a two-time All Heartland pick. Arias and his wife Nicole are the proud parents of three daughters; Rebecca Nicole, Andrea Belen and Sarah Elizabeth and a son, Christian Hugo. Claudio Arias returns for his tenth season as Head Coach of the TAMIU Mens soccer team.  A two-time Heartland Conference Coach of the Year, Coach Arias has helped to transform the Dustdevils into one of the preeminent soccer programs in the country.  Under Arias the Dustdevils have won two of the last three Heartland Conference Championships and earned the first national ranking of any team in TAMIU athletics history.