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Saturday, May 27, 2000 By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
The home and home series between the Riverhounds and Long Island Roughriders takes on a different meaning for Riverhounds forward Joenal Castma. For Castma, it really is a home-and-home series.
*Players to watch: M Adam Fedoruk, D Tenywa "T-Bone" Bonseu, F Mike Butler.
Castma, a starting forward, grew up across the street from Mitchel Athletic Complex, where the Roughriders play their home games. Last year, when the Riverhounds played on Long Island, Castma's parents had a barbecue in their backyard after the game.
"Last year, I needed 30 or 40 tickets," Castma said. "I'm going to try for more this year. We're trying to make everyone up there Riverhounds fans."
Before the barbecue gets under way this year, the Riverhounds must attend to some important business.
The Riverhounds (3-0-1) can advance to the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a victory, or a loss, provided the Roughriders (1-1-1) don't win by three goals or more. Anything less than that, and the Riverhounds move on.
The Riverhounds scored three goals in an eight-minute span last Saturday and rolled to a 3-1 victory to take command of the two-game qualifying series.
"All we want to do is win the game," Castma said.
Riverhounds Coach John Kowalski will use the same lineup he employed against Long Island last week, except Castma will start in favor of David Flavius, who has a sore hamstring. Doug Petras will get his second consecutive start in goal.
"It was good last game; why fix it?" Kowalski said.
Kowalski said the Riverhounds will play the up-tempo style, offensive-minded game that was so successful for them last week, rather than adopting a defensive posture.
"We're going to try and score a goal or two," Kowalski said. "If we score, they're going to have to beat us 4-1 or 5-2 to win it. This is important for the standings, too. If it was just for the Open Cup, maybe we would play it a little tighter defensively. But this is important in the standings as well."
Last season, Open Cup qualifying was based on records over the first six games of the season. The Riverhounds started 2-4 and never sniffed qualifying. Under new qualifying standards, the Riverhounds have a chance to move on and open some eyes.
"We're excited because last year we didn't start out as well and that influenced our Open Cup qualifying," said defender Jaman Tripoli. "This year, we started out really strong, and we're looking to close it out and advance. Maybe we'll beat an MLS team or two along the way, and we can show the people of Pittsburgh why we're building the new stadium."
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Matchup: Riverhounds (3-0-1) at Long Island Roughriders (1-1-1), 7:30 p.m., Mitchel Athletic Complex.