Rutgers-Camden men seeded second
for ECAC men's soccer tournaments

CAMDEN (Nov. 7, 2006) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer teams will continue its season when the Scarlet Raptors participate in the 2006 ECAC Division III Men's Metro Soccer Championship beginning Wednesday.

The Rutgers-Camden men, seeded second in the eight-team field for their highest ECAC seed ever, will host No. 7 City College of New York in the Metro quarterfinals Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Rutgers-Camden enters the tournament with a 10-4-6 record, including a 3-2-4 record against teams which have appeared in one of the two Top 25 polls (NSCAA/adidas or d3kicks.com) this season. The Raptors haven’t played since the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals on Oct. 31, when they battled to a 1-1 double-overtime tie against New Jersey City University before the Gothic Knights advanced with a 4-1 win in the penalty kick tiebreaker.

The City College of New York Beavers bring a 10-6 record into the ECAC Metro Championships. They lost in their CUNYAC quarterfinals on Oct. 25 against John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 1-0.

New Jersey City University, which lost in the NJAC Championship game in double-overtime against Montclair State University, will be the top seed for the ECAC Metro Championship. The Scarlet Raptors and the Gothic Knights are two of five NJAC teams in the ECAC men’s tournament, including No. 3 Richard Stockton, No. 4 Kean and No. 6 Ramapo. In addition to City College of New York, other teams in the Metro Championship include No. 5 Drew University and No. 8 Centenary College.

Rutgers-Camden and City College of New York have played three common opponents this season: Rutgers-Newark, New Jersey City University and John Jay. The Raptors went 3-0-1 in four games against that group, including a win over Rutgers-Newark (5-0, Sept. 16), a win over John Jay (8-0, Oct. 9) and a 1-0-1 mark against NJCU (a 3-2 win Oct. 25 and the penalty kick game Oct. 31, which is officially recorded as a 1-1 tie). CCNY went 2-2 in four games against that group, beating Rutgers-Newark (3-0, Sept. 6), losing to NJCU (5-0, Sept. 10), and splitting 1-0 decisions with John Jay (Oct. 21 and 25).

If the Scarlet Raptors defeat City College of New York, they will host a game Saturday against the winner of the Ramapo at Richard Stockton quarterfinal game. The time will be determined.

Rutgers-Camden is appearing in its fourth ECAC tournament. The Raptors are 0-3 all-time in the ECAC playoffs, including losses in 1988 (2-1 against the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Nov. 5), 2000 (2-0 at Richard Stockton College, Nov. 8) and 2001 (1-0 at New York University, Nov. 7).

The Scarlet Raptors have gone 7-2-4 since Sept. 23. They feature six All-NJAC players, including First Team junior Pat Baldiserra (Milmay, NJ/Buena Regional), who has three goals and 10 assists for 16 points. Baldiserra’s 10 assists are two shy of the single-season program mark shared by Ruthven Williams (1976) and Mike Zeno (1995). For his career, Baldiserra owns 21 assists, seven shy of Zeno’s mark (1992-95).

The Raptors’ all-conference players include Second Team members in sophomore forward Andrew Dorsey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/The King’s Christian School), who leads the team in goals (8) and points (18) and injured senior midfielder Michael Reed (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East). Raptors earning All-NJAC Honorable Mention include junior back Ryan Evans (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), junior back Chris Amato (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) and senior goalie David Cunningham (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), the program’s all-time goalie leader in wins (32), ties (13) and goals-against average (0.95). 

ECAC Division III Men’s Metro Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals, Wednesday, Nov. 8
Game 1: #8 Centenary College at #1 New Jersey City University, 2 p.m.
Game 2: #7 City College of New York at #2 Rutgers University-Camden, 6 p.m.
Game 3: #6 Ramapo College at #3 Richard Stockton College, 7 p.m.
Game 4: #5 Drew University at #4 Kean University, 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals, Saturday, Nov. 11
Game #5: Winner of Game #1 vs. Winner of Game #4, TBA
Game #6: Winner of Game #2 vs. Winner of Game #3, TBA
Championship, Sunday, Nov. 12
Game #7: Winner of Game #5 vs. Winner of Game #6, TBA