Major League Soccer announced today that New York Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards was voted the MLS Cup Playoffs Player of the Week. Richards had a hand in all three of the Red Bulls' goals in their 3-0 upset win over two-time defending champion, the Houston Dynamo, at Robertson Stadium in the second leg of the teams' Western Conference Semifinal Series Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Red Bulls won the series on goal aggregate, 4-1, and advanced to the Western Conference Final, where they will face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium at 9:30 PM ET for the right to play in MLS Cup 2008.

Richards, a 2007 MLS Rookie of the Year finalist, used his speed to score the game's first goal in the 25th minute. The 24-year-old, who attended San Jacinto Junior College in Houston from 2003-04, ran onto a Sinisa Ubiparipovic long ball and outraced two Houston defenders before blasting it past goalkeeper Pat Onstad for his first-ever postseason goal. Eleven minutes later, Richards freed himself on the right wing and provided a cross that deflected off Houston's Ricardo Clark's arm in the penalty box. The Red Bulls earned a penalty kick on the play and forward Juan Pablo Angel converted it to give New York a 2-0 lead. Richards helped the Red Bulls ice the game nine minutes from full time, making a run from his own half to the end line and delivering a low cross that forward John Wolyniec put away.

Playing in 23 games this season, Richards has tallied a career-high in goals with three to go along with a team-high six assists in 2008. He played the full 90 minutes against Houston the first leg of the teams' playoff series. The speedy winger from Montego Bay, Jamaica, was acquired by the Red Bulls in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft after he was selected in the second round (19th overall) from Clemson University. Richards joins Angel (Week 20) as the only Red Bulls named MLS Player of the Week in 2008.