Villanova Men's Soccer and Camps

  Tim Oswald

Head Coach, Rutgers-Camden Men's Soccer

Tim Oswald continued to raise the bar for Rutgers-Camden soccer in his second season as the Scarlet Raptors’ head coach. For the second consecutive season, Oswald’s team finished in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Top 4 during the regular season, reached the NJAC playoffs, won 13 games and capped its campaign by winning the ECAC Metro championship. In his two years with the Raptors, Oswald has posted a 26-11-9 record (5-1-1 in playoff matches) and captured a pair of ECAC Metro titles, making him the only coach in program history to end his year with a post-season victory. Oswald also is constantly upgrading the Raptors’ rugged schedule to face the top teams in the country. In his 46 games at Rutgers-Camden, Oswald has coached 21 times against nationally-ranked teams, leading the Scarlet Raptors to seven wins and seven ties against that rugged competition.

Rutgers-Camden finished the last two seasons as the No. 6 team in the final NSCAA Metro Region rankings. The Raptors received votes toward the d3kicks.com national poll both seasons. Oswald turned in perhaps his finest coaching performance during the 2007 season. He led the Raptors to a 13-7-3 record and their second straight ECAC Metro title in the wake of the tragic loss of their top player, Pat Baldiserra. The All-America midfielder was killed in an automobile accident during the summer of 2007, prior to his senior season. The 2007 Scarlet Raptors posted two wins and three ties against Top 25 teams, produced four All-NJAC players and four NSCAA Regional All-Americans. They also saw three players named to the 2007 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Men’s Soccer Team. One of them, senior Rodney Guishard, was named as the Performer of the Year on the Inquirer’s Academic squad. Guishard also finished tied for 32nd nationally in assists per game (0.50, with 11 assists in 22 games). All those accomplishments earned Oswald the Edward C. Cialella Coach of the Year honor at the annual Rutgers-Camden Athletic Banquet in May, 2008. In his first year as the Scarlet Raptors’ head coach, Oswald led Rutgers-Camden to a second-place finish in the NJAC standings, guided his team to a berth in the NJAC tournament and capped the season by winning their first ECAC Division III Men’s Metro Soccer Championship. Rutgers-Camden’s 1-0 victory at New Jersey City University (November 12, 2006) gave the Raptors the first ECAC crown in program history. The victory also helped Rutgers-Camden receive a vote toward the final d3kicks.com Top 25 national poll of the year. Rutgers-Camden posted a 13-4-6 record in Oswald’s maiden season with the Raptors. His goalies placed 11th nationally in Division III in saves percentage (.884) and 39th in goals-against average (0.70). Overall, Oswald’s team featured six all-conference players, a pair of Philadelphia Inquirer all-academic stars and Rutgers-Camden’s first NCAA All-American, when Baldiserra was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas NCAA Division III All-America Third Team. Over the summer of 2007, Oswald added another credential to his coaching resume, serving as an assistant coach for the Ocean City Barons’ Premier Development League team. He joined the staff of first-year Barons Head Coach Mike Pellegrino and helped Ocean City reach the Eastern Conference semifinals. He stepped back from coaching with the Barons in 2008, but served as the recruiting coordinator for the squad. Oswald brought plenty of credentials to his head coaching job at Rutgers-Camden. A standout soccer player at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, he earned All-Catholic honors and added All-Area recognition from the Northeast Times in 1996. He was an integral part in helping the FJHS squad reach the Catholic playoffs after a hiatus through the 1990’s. Oswald continued his soccer career as a midfielder/forward at Elizabethtown College, where the Blue Jays earned national rankings during all four of his years, including Top 5 rankings during his junior and senior seasons. The Blue Jays played in three straight MAC championship games, winning the 1999 title and earning a trip to the NCAA tournament. They finished 60-17-2 over Oswald’s four years at Elizabethtown. During his senior year he earned conference Player of the Week, First-Team All-Conference and All-Academic MAC honors. In 53 career games, he notched 15 goals, 18 assists and 48 points at Elizabethtown.