The late Pat Baldiserra was one of the all-time great players in the history of the Rutgers-Camden men’s soccer program, and his influence extended throughout the New Jersey Athletic Conference and the Division III national scene.
Baldiserra in action
Baldiserra, who passed away in an auto accident the summer before his senior year, earned First Team All-NJAC honors during each of his three seasons at Rutgers-Camden, where he scored 14 goals and 24 assists for 52 points over 62 career games. A midfielder with amazing ball skills and vision, he capped his junior season by becoming the first NCAA All-American in program history. He was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America when he was named to the 2006 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division III All-America Third Team.
The All-America honor followed a banner junior year for Baldiserra, who also earned his second straight NSCAA All-Metro Region First Team honor (regional All-American) and was named to the inaugural
d3kicks.com All-Metropolitan Region Second Team. He earned NSCAA All-Metro Region Second Team honors as a freshman in 2004, and captured Rutgers-Camden team MVP honors in both 2005 and 2006.
Among his many honors in 2006, Baldiserra was named NJAC Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 30, NJAC Offensive Player of the Week Nov. 13 and was the ECAC Div. III Metro Defensive Player of the Week Oct. 31. He was named the tournament MVP while leading Rutgers-Camden to the ECAC Metro Soccer Championship.
Baldiserra collected 13 assists as a junior, tying for 18th nationally with 0.62 assists per game while setting the Rutgers-Camden single-season program assist record. In only three seasons he collected 24 career assists (tied for second in program history), leaving him only four shy of Mike Zeno’s program mark of 28.
Baldiserra’s legacy was honored in 2007 by Rutgers-Camden and the NJAC. His #3 jersey became the first retired uniform number in the history of Rutgers-Camden athletics. The conference, meanwhile, named one of its major post-season honors after him with the creation of the Pat Baldiserra Midfielder of the Year Award.
Rutgers-Camden waived the required five-year waiting period to induct Baldiserra into the third class of Hall of Famers.
