HOUSTON — Dane Richards had a goal and an assist, and the New York Red Bulls won the Western Conference semifinal series on goal aggregate with a 3-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Sunday.

The Red Bulls tied 1-1 with the Dynamo, the two-time defending MLS Cup champions, in the series opener on Nov. 1. New York will travel to Real Salt Lake for the Western Conference championship on Saturday.

Richards gave the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when he beat Houston's Wade Barrett to a pass from Sinisa Ubiparipovic. Richards took it up the middle and let a shot go from 20 yards out that found the upper left corner of the net.

Juan Pablo Angel converted a penalty kick in the 36th minute after Houston's Ricardo Clark was called for a hand ball in the box.

The Red Bulls put the game away in the 80th minute when Richards had a nice run up the right side and gave it to John Wolyniec in front of the net.

New York goalkeeper Danny Cepero made five saves.

New York advanced to the conference finals for the second time, with its first visit coming in 2000.

Houston won the Western Conference regular-season title. The Western Conference champion hasn't advanced to the conference finals since 2003.