Red Bulls Upset Houston, Advance To Next Round

by: NYSD Wire Services | Press Release | Monday, November 10, 2008



HOUSTON, TX – The Red Bulls pulled off a major upset today, knocking out the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo with a 3-0 win in Houston in the second game of the two-game series, before a crowd of 30,053 at Robertson Stadium in Houston. The Red Bulls wins the two-game aggregate goal series by a 4-1 margin.

The series win marks just the second time in the franchise's 13-year history that they have gotten through the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The win in Houston was the teams' first ever and was only the team's second road win of the 2008 campaign. New York advances to the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, November 15 against Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT.

Dane Richards opened the scoring in the 25th minute as he split the Dynamo defense and fired a shot over the top of the outstretched hands of Pat Onstad. Richards took a pass from Sinisa Ubiparipovic from about 30 years out and raced between Bobby Boswell and Wade Barrett and fired a shot from about 15 years out.

The Red Bulls took a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute on a Juan Pablo Angel penalty kick goal. It was Angel's second marker of the post-season when he drilled the penalty kick into the left corner. New York received the penalty kick when Dane Richards raced down the right side and tried a cross from just outside the box that caught Dynamo defender Ricardo Clark's hand. John Wolyniec capped the scoring with his first goal of the 2008 season finishing a Dane Richards cross from in close.

New York moves on to the Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history. The last time was in 2000 when they faced the Chicago Fire. New York lost the three-game series to the Fire, who lost in the MLS Cup to Kansas City. The win today was New York's first playoff road since a 2-1 win in Dallas on September 20, 2000 by a 2-1 score.