Pat Baldiserra destroyed any theories of a sophomore jinx during his second season at Rutgers-Camden in 2005. Baldiserra followed up a brilliant rookie season with an even better sophomore year. The play-making midfielder captured First Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference honors and earned First Team All-Metro Region honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on his way to winning Rutgers-Camden team MVP honors in 2005. He led the Scarlet Raptors with six assists, tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals and notched six goals overall to finish tied for second on the team in scoring with 18 points.
In his two seasons at Rutgers-Camden, Baldiserra has been named First Team All-NJAC both years. He owns career totals of 10 goals and 11 assists. After only 41 games, he already ranks 19th on the program’s career scoring chart with 31 points, and needs only 13 more points to move into the Top 10.
That production has been reflected in the Raptors’ record. During Baldiserra’s two seasons, Rutgers-Camden has compiled the only two 15-win seasons in program history, going 30-7-5 overall. Last fall the Raptors reached the NJAC championship game for the first time ever.
Baldiserra didn’t waste any time getting his sophomore year off to a big start. He assisted on both goals as the Raptors edged pre-season No. 22 Elizabethtown College, 2-1, Sept. 1.
Baldiserra collected a pair of goals Sept. 17 as the Raptors defeated eighth-ranked Richard Stockton College, 4-3. His game-winning goal at 92:29 snapped a 13-year streak of futility against the Ospreys which saw the Raptors go 0-13-2 in that span. That performance earned him Raptor of the Week honors for Sept. 19.
He also had two goals and one assist, including the game-winning goal, in a 4-1 win over Rutgers-Newark Sept. 28 and scored the deciding goal at 101:16 in a 2-1 win over Wesley College Oct. 5. Baldiserra’s other goal came in a 1-1 tie at Kean University Oct. 15.
The talented midfielder also produced a three-game streak in which he had one assist in each game, coming against Franklin & Marshall (Oct. 19), Montclair State (Oct. 22) and Ramapo (Oct. 26).
Baldiserra broke into collegiate soccer with a bang in 2004 as he became not only one of the top freshman players in the NJAC, but one of the conference’s top stars overall. He earned First Team All-NJAC honors (one of only two freshmen to do so) and added NSCAA Division III All-Metro Region Second Team recognition after a season in which he scored four goals and notched a team-leading five assists. He finished third on the team with 13 points and played a superb all-around game as an outside midfielder.
Baldiserra scored a goal in both the Raptors’ 1-1 tie against Arcadia University (Sept. 8) and a 2-0 win over Widener University (Sept. 15). His goal against Arcadia tied the contest 55 seconds after the Scarlet Knights scored.
Baldiserra continued his goal-scoring streak in the next two games, notching the lone goals in 1-1 road ties against NJAC powers Richard Stockton (Sept. 18) and Rowan (Sept. 22). He was named the school’s Raptor of the Week Sept. 13 and earned honors as the NJAC Rookie of the Week Sept. 20.
Although those four consecutive contests produced his lone goals of the season, they only marked the beginning of the impact Baldiserra made on the team and in the conference.
Baldiserra notched his first collegiate assist on Ryan Evans’ game-winning overtime goal, which produced a 1-0 win over Rutgers-Newark (Sept. 29). He added single assists against Lincoln University (Oct. 4) and Albright College (Oct. 19) and had a two-assist game against William Paterson University (Oct. 13).
At the Scarlet Raptors’ post-season team banquet, Baldiserra was honored as the team’s Rookie of the Year.
A scholastic superstar at Buena Regional High School, Baldiserra tied for the South Jersey lead with 31 goals and earned Second Team All-South Jersey honors from both the Courier-Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer as a senior.He also was named to the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey Second Team, and earned First Team honors from the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association. A two-time First Team Cape-Atlantic League National Division star for the Chiefs, Baldiserra also was named to the Courier-Post’s All-Group 2 First Team as a junior and a senior. During his junior year he added Second Team South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association honors.
Baldiserra, who also played tennis at Buena, is a Business major at Rutgers-Camden. He is the son of Ronnie and Dennis
Baldiserra of Milmay.
