Greg Petersen wants to put his stamp on the El Paso Patriots. He better check his horoscope to see if itÆs in the cards. On a night when Bulgarians were scoring all over the country, Bisser Georgiev scored twice and added an assist to lead the Patriots to a season-opening 4-2 victory over U.S. Pro-40 before a crowd of 4,235 at Socorro Stadium in El Paso. “[Hristo] Stoitchkov scored in Chicago, [Kalin] Bankov for Tampa Bay and (Velko) Iotov for Charleston,” said Petersen, the first-year coach of the Patriots who picked up his first win in the A-League since 1997 when he was in charge of the Nashville Metros. “The moons must have been in perfect alignment.” In order to make his mark on the oldest existing team in the A-League, Petersen brought six Bulgarians to El Paso. Among those was Georgiev, a 30-year-old midfielder whom his coach calls very skilled, intelligent and extremely experienced. It took Georgiev all of four minutes to make an impact as he converted a penalty kick to give the Patriots a very early lead. He was awarded the penalty after Pro-40 defender Tim Sahaydak took him down inside the box. Following Jamar BeasleyÆs 12th minute equalizer, his second goal of the young season, Michael Griego gave El Paso a 2-1 lead with a 28th minute strike. The Patriots held the one-goal advantage until halftime. Georgiev scored what proved to be the game-winner just six minutes after the break, then fed Mark Rowland for an insurance tally in the 72nd minute. “There are not too many players in this league with his ability,” Petersen said. “He is a very quiet player who speaks with his actions.” GeorgievÆs countryman Dimitar Popov was the winning goalkeeper, after facing 12 Pro-40 shots and making six saves. Two more Dimitars were in the lineup for the Patriots, Dimitar Vasev and Dimitar Dimitrov both logged 90 minutes on the back line. “I think this team is going to have my stamp on it,” said Petersen, who has also coached the Reno Rattlers, Monterey Bay Jaguars and C.C.V. Hydra in USL. “WeÆll be very attack-oriented, but at the same time multi-faceted. I think we demonstrated that tonight, but itÆs a long season and this is just the beginning.” The Patriots will face a tough test tonight when they face the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first of 14 exhibition matches between A-League and Major League Soccer teams. Los Angeles currently leads all MLS teams with a 3-0-2 record and 11 points. Iotov charges Battery: CharlestonÆs Bulgarian signing also recorded an impressive debut as Velko Iotov scored in the 84th minute to cap the BatteryÆs 2-0 victory over Atlanta in the A-LeagueÆs opening qualifier for the U.S. Open Cup, disappointing a DeKalb Memorial Stadium crowd of 6,422. Temoc Saurez, who had four appearances for the Silverbacks in 1999, scored the game-winner in the 55th minute on a direct free kick from just outside of the penalty box. The game was the first A-League match of the year to feature the experimental two-referee system, which will be used for all 40 of the leagueÆs Open Cup qualification matches. “It worked a little differently than I had imagined,” said Charleston General Manager Buckley Andrews. “It was a very physical game, but it wasnÆt dirty. I would have to credit that to the fact that there were two referees on the field. “I was quite pleased with it. It didnÆt seem to interrupt the flow of the game and the central referees were taking control of the situation. At the beginning of the game, I was surprised to see the referees all over the pitch, but it didnÆt seem to hinder the progress of the game.” Atlanta can gain revenge on the Battery Saturday when they visit Blackbaud Stadium for CharlestonÆs home opener and the second and final Open Cup qualifier between the teams. Bulldogs stopped in California: The San Diego Flash picked up their second victory of the season, while Orange County earned its first victory since becoming the Waves in the offseason as each team recorded a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bulldogs, who began their campaign with the West Coast trip. At Douglas Stadium in San Diego, BostonÆs Sam Franklin gave his team a great start to the season when he tallied in the third minute. The Flash finally equalized in the 62nd minute through Kevin LeggÆs first strike of the year and substitute Jerome Watson won the game with less than five minutes remaining in regulation on a diving header through the hands of goalkeeper Russell Payne. The next night, it was Orange County who jumped out to the early advantage when Steve Patterson scored in the 15th minute on an assist from P.J. Polowski. BostonÆs Stephen Grant tied the game one minute into the second half. Despite defender Jose VasquezÆs 55th minute ejection, Gustavo Leal scored the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute and the Waves held on for the victory. Thanks, gov: New York Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the 2000-01 State Budget will include $15 million to support the construction of a new soccer stadium in Rochester. “This State funding will allow the Rochester community to move forward with its long-sought goal of securing a Major League Soccer franchise,” said Governor Pataki. “In addition to providing a wonderful athletic venue for the enjoyment of thousands of families in the Greater Rochester area, this investment will create hundreds of new jobs and provide a significant economic boost for local businesses near the stadium.” The cost of PaeTec Park, named after PaeTec Communications, a major sponsor of the Rochester Raging Rhinos and an integrated communications provider headquartered in Fairport, N.Y., has been projected at $44 million. In addition to the StateÆs $15 million, the Rhinos will contribute $26 million and the remaining $3 million will come from other sources. The new 20,000-seat, state-of-the-art outdoor facility will include 30 luxury suites, a full range of concession and merchandising facilities and a Hall of Fame section that will highlight area scholastic and professional sports. Jankovic for Impact: With just three weeks before marking their return to the A-League, the Montreal Impact have named Zoran Jankovic their new coach. Following his playing career, Jankovic coached in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and came to Canada in 1991. He coached Jean-Talon Rosemont of the Quebec Elite Soccer League from 1992-97. Jankovic replaces Impact defender John Limniatis at the helm. Limniatis took over as interim coach during the teamÆs recently completed season in the National Professional Soccer League. Winters called up: With injuries to Joey DiGiamarino (Colorado Rapids) and Sasha Victorine (Los Angeles Galaxy), Minnesota midfielder Brian Winters has been called into the United States U23 National Team for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, which begins Friday in Hershey, Pa. Winters started and played the full 90 minutes in a tuneup against MLSÆs Miami Fusion last week. The top two finishers at the six-team tournament advance to the final round of 16 at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Austrailia. Transactions: The Indiana Blast re-signed defender Tim Foster, who will join the club in time for its home opener May 12 against his former team, Minnesota à Boston Bulldogs forward Ebbie Kodiat missed the season opener but received clearance from the Kuwait federation in time for the game against Orange County à Gabriel Luna De La Fuente has been named Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Sponsorships for the San Diego Flash à The Seattle Sounders signed four players: midfielders Andrew Gregor, Brian Wood and Rashid Utush and defender Ali John Utush à The Vancouvers 86ers signed Canadian U-23 defender Steve McCauley and re-signed forwards Jason Jordan and Alfredo Valente à Dwayne DeRosario, who helped Canada win the 2000 Gold Cup, re-signed with the Richmond Kickers à The Connecticut Wolves signed forward Erik Barbieri, midfielder Wikid Wilson and defender Pepe Smith and released midfielder Roland Joseph and defenders Gary Collins and David Kelly. National team duty: Charleston defender Brent Sancho sat out SaturdayÆs season opener while playing for Trinidad and Tobago in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Dominican Republic. The BatteryÆs Gilbert Jean-Baptiste will line up for Haiti in an exhibition match against MLSÆ Miami Fusion Wednesday. A-round the country: The San Diego Flash has begun the season with two straight victories for the first time in their history à Orange County Coach Erick Kirsch and his wife, Julie, gave birth to their first child April 15, a day before the Waves defeated Boston à With a pair of exhibition games remaining before opening their season opener against Toronto on Apr. 29, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds have a preseason record of 5-1-2 à The Seattle Sounders improved to 4-0-1 in the preseason with a 5-0 victory over the Skagit Valley Marlins. Newly acquired Rashid Utush scored twice in two minutes to pace the Sounders à Ronald Valderrama, the brother of MLS superstar Carlos Valderrama, has begun a 10-day trial with the Minnesota Thunder. Business wire: White Castle restaurants will once again team with the Indiana Blast in 2000 and will feature the Blast and W-League Indiana Blaze logos and schedules on 500,000 paper bags to be distributed throughout the month of April à The first 1,000 fans attending the Charleston BatteryÆs home opener April 22 against Atlanta will receive a 44-ounce soccer mug compliments of Suncom à Pepsi, a sponsor of the Orange County Waves, has produced special limited-edition Waves cans for distribution in the Orange County area à The Vancouver 86ers have added Pacific Western Brewing, which brews Canterbury beer, to their list of sponsors. In addition to providing beer at 86ers home games, the popular cheering section behind the South goal at Swangard Stadium will be called Canterbury Court à Target will sponsor the Target “Fun Zone,” an interactive inflatable games area, at the University of Richmond City Stadium, home of the Richmond Kickers.