EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The wind at Giants Stadium has always played a factor in the outcome of games. Many times the direction at the top, did not match the wind pattern at the bottom.

Phil Simms always complained about it and the over the years, the Jets talented quarterbacks were grounded by the swirl.

Even in soccer, there's an effect. A strong breeze shut down the Red Bull offense in the first half and while they played better going with the wind in the final 45 minutes, the Bulls couldn't stop the D.C. United for coming away with a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Because of the rules in the two game series, the Red Bulls will need win Game 2 by two goals in order to advance in regulation or at least pull of a one goal victory to force a shootout decision.

“The first half was not good on our part,” said coach Bruce Arena. “We didn't have the confidence to go along. The wind was a factor, going to the [west] goal was an advantage. Even though the flags were going one direction wind was favoring the [east] goal.”

And the stats supported Arena's argument. D.C. had nine shots in the first half, while New York only had four, but in the second half, the Red Bulls out-shot the United 9-5.

It all went for naught, though, because the United was able to stop every scoring opportunity the Red Bulls were able to toss at goalie Troy Perkins.

The best one came during the 72^nd minute when Todd Dunivant tried a cross pass to Markus Schopp, which was missed. If Schopp was able to catch up to it he would have had an easy defection for a 1-0 Red Bull lead.

Instead, the Bulls found themselves behind five minutes later when Jaime Moreno hit Christian Gomez who put the ball over Jon Conway for the only score the game.

“The guys who were the difference in the game today and it's everytime we play the D.C. United, it's Moreno and Gomez,” Arena said. “They are the only two players in the league that can pull that off. Jaime's go the skill to place the ball and Gomez as the composure to take the ball down and finish off the play. It's a very nice goal.

It proved to be insurmountable as the teams were stalemated for the final 13 minutes.

“The conditions of the game today and it affected both teams,” Arena said. “But with the surface favorable to us, obviously we had an advantage. But we didn't take advantage of it.

“It was obvious one play would make the difference today and [the United] made the play.”

Notes: The D.C. United is now 5-1 against the Red Bulls/Metrostars in playoff games....This marks the last Giants Stadium game for Youri Djorkaeff, who will be retiring after the season, even if the Red Bulls move on, they will be on the road for the rest of the playoffs...There were only 8,630 at the game, but a small contingent of United fans were sitting in the mezzanine behind the east goal and were screaming and playing drums for the whole game...Next week's game will take place at RFK Stadium. Kickoff is at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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