Rutgers-Camden’s Baldiserra named
ECAC Metro Defensive Player of the Week

CAMDEN (Oct. 31, 2006) – One day after being named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, Rutgers University-Camden junior midfielder Pat Baldiserra (Milmay, NJ/Buena Regional) added another honor Tuesday when he was tabbed as the ECAC Division III Metro Defensive Player of the Week.

In his one game last week, Baldiserra collected a pair of assists on the first two Scarlet Raptor goals as Rutgers-Camden grabbed a 3-0 lead and hung on for a 3-2 victory at No. 22-ranked New Jersey City University Oct. 25. That win clinched Rutgers-Camden the second seed in the NJAC playoffs and a first-round bye. The Scarlet Raptors will play NJCU again on Tuesday night, with a conference semifinal game in Camden at 7 p.m.

Baldiserra’s performance last week also helped the Raptors snap NJCU’s 13-game home winning streak.

The Raptors’ play-making midfielder has nine goals this season, the second-highest total in the NJAC and tied for the fourth-best single-season total in Rutgers-Camden men’s soccer history. He also has three goals and is tied for second on the team in scoring with 15 points.
Four of Baldiserra’s assists came in a win over John Jay College Oct. 9, tying the program’s single-game mark set by Mike Zeno against Holy Family on Oct. 7, 1995.

Baldiserra is one of three Scarlet Raptors to earn weekly NJAC honors this season. On Sept. 18, senior goalie David Cunningham (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) was named the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week. On Sept. 25, sophomore forward Andrew Dorsey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/The King’s Christian School) was tabbed as the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week. Dorsey was also named the ECAC Metro Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26.

The Raptors also have had three players named to the on-line d3kicks.comTeam of the Week this season. Junior back Ryan Evans (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) was the latest honoree, being named to the Team of the Week Oct. 24. In addition to Evans, junior back Chris Amato (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) was named to the d3kicks.com Team of the Week Oct. 10 and junior  midfielder Rodney Guishard (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) was named to that team on Sept. 12.