Rutgers-Camden wins ECAC title
as Baldiserra sets assist record

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Nov. 12, 2006) – Neither rain, or winds or sloppy field conditions could keep the Rutgers University-Camden men’s soccer team from the 2006 ECAC Division III Men’s Metro Soccer Championship.

Junior midfielder Pat Baldiserra (Milmay, NJ/Buena Regional), the tournament MVP, assisted on the game-winning goal by junior midfielder Rodney Guishard (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) with only 8:55 remaining to lead the second-seeded Scarlet Raptors past top-seeded New Jersey City University, 1-0, here Sunday. The game at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field was played under heavy rain and winds in the second half.

The Scarlet Raptors’ victory, their third in four days, gave Rutgers-Camden its first ECAC men’s soccer championship. The Raptors, who had been 0-3 in three previous ECAC tournaments before this season (1988, 2000 and 2001), outscored opponents, 8-1, on their way to the 2006 title.

The game’s lone goal came at 81:05 after a pair of Gothic Knights collided in NJCU’s own third of the slippery field. That gave Rutgers-Camden a two-on-one breakaway and Baldiserra fed a pass onto the right wing. Before NJCU junior goalie Bruce Neves (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) could cut off the play, Guishard hit a shot into the right side of the net. It was his sixth goal of the season and fourth game-winner, including two against NJCU.

The assist was the 13th of the year for Baldiserra, setting a single-season Rutgers-Camden record. He had been tied at 12 assists with Ruthven Williams (1976) and Mike Zeno (1995). Baldiserra, who had an assist in each of the Raptors’ three ECAC tournament wins and also added a goal against City College of New York Thursday, also raised his career total to 24 assists. He will enter his senior season next fall only four assists shy of Zeno’s Rutgers-Camden career record, set between 1992-95.

Baldiserra’s assist also allowed him to tie NJCU sophomore midfielder Cristhian Acuna (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) for the New Jersey Athletic Conference lead in assists.

Rutgers-Camden closed its season with a 13-4-6 record, including a 4-0-3 mark in its last seven games. The Raptors were 8-1-4 in their last 13 games, including 2-0-1 against the powerful Gothic Knights, who were one of eight opponents on the schedule to be ranked nationally during the season in one, or both, of the d3kicks.com and the NSCAA/adidas Divison III Top 25 polls. In 11 games against those eight teams, the Raptors went 5-2-4.

NJCU finished the season with a school-record 17 victories for the third consecutive year and fourth time in six seasons. The Gothic Knights closed at 17-6-2.

The shutout marked the first time NJCU has been blanked at home since a 1-0 loss to Montclair State University on October 30, 2002—a span of 46 games. NJCU was shutout for only the second time this season and second time in its last 43 contests. The shutout was the 10th of the season for the Scarlet Raptors.

NJCU outshot Rutgers-Camden, 21-9, including 9-3 in the second half. There were few solid scoring chances, however, as the Gothic Knights only held a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal. They also held a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks in the game which featured 36 fouls, and was marred by an ugly altercation in the Camden goalmouth with 5:41 remaining in regulation
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Camden senior keeper David Cunningham (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) made five saves to record his fourth shutout of the season. His best stop came at 84:19, when he blocked a shot by NJCU senior midfielder Chris Palumbo (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood). Neves made three saves for NJCU.