The Revs’ 2-1 home win over Seattle for their 10th W of the campaign was an exhilarating and nerve-racking one for the fans. After trailing from minute six until the 51’, both the penalty call and iffy-non-offside call that the Revolution benefited from on its second goal are evidence that there is balance in the world of soccer karma. The Revs earned that good fortune, however, and deservedly are back on the inside track for a playoff spot.

There is no explanation – karmic, rational, what have you – for the terrible development that will see captain Steve Ralston miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL. Ralston certainly deserves better and the Revs’ are undoubtedly a weakened squad in so many ways as the result of losing his abilities.

The onus thus falls even more heavily on Shalrie Joseph – rightfully named MLS Player of the Week for his efforts against Seattle – as the man who has the ability to carry the Revs to the promised land of the playoffs. Shalrie is having an MVP-caliber season and his importance obviously extends well beyond the career high season totals he’s posted in goals and assists this campaign.

Which is not to say that this season’s results to this point haven’t been a team effort. The back four and goalkeepers have played better than they’ve been given credit for, and on different nights Kheli Dube, Wells Thompson, Sainey Nyassi and Edgaras Jankauskas have contributed important, memorable goals. Jeff Larentowicz has been so solid. And the contributions off the bench from the likes of Chris Tierney and Pat Phelan have been vital as well.

But with no Taylor Twellman or Chris Albright, and now no Ralston, Shalrie – along with Jay Heaps and Matt Reis – is the last of the old guard from this great era of the Revs under Steve Nicol. And that, for me, is where the impetus for a push to make the postseason is going to come from.

The Revs now travel to the Cotton Bowl to take on a rejuvenated FC Dallas side that’s won two of its last three and leads MLS is goal scoring. The three points at stake in this upcoming game matter just as much as the ones against Seattle did. The Revs will also have to contend with what’s likely to be a raucous atmosphere, as their game is part of a doubleheader featuring Mexico vs. Colombia.

Historically speaking, however, Dallas may be just the team to play when the Revs need points. In addition to leading the all-time regular-season series 22-9-1, the Revs are 10-1-0 in their last eleven matches against Dallas and have won six straight against the Hoops.

At present, Dallas is in seventh place in the west and is seven points out of a playoff spot with four games remaining. But if they win out down the stretch FCD could still make the postseason.

The bad news is that Dallas’ well-traveled, prolific forward Jeff Cunningham is red hot right now – scoring in four straight matches and now tied for the league lead with 15 goals. He’ll be handful for the Revs in his current form.

FCD has made itself a better team than it was even a couple of weeks ago with several personnel additions. The signings of U.S. International Heath Pearce and former Rev Daniel Hernandez instantly made Dallas a more formidable opponent. Newcomers Jair Benitez and Marvin Chavez, meanwhile, together add a pacier dimension to the Dallas team.

Also, Ugo Ihemelu and Atiba Harris are known MLS quantities that have been added to the Hoops’ roster since the Revs defeated them 2-1 on April 4 in Foxborough.

David Ferreira is FCD’s danger man who complements Cunningham with ruthless efficiency. The diminutive (5’5”, 145 lbs.) Colombian is quick-quick and with 7 goals to go with 6 assists on the season has to be considered one of the sleeper signings of 2009. Along with veteran left-footer Dave van den Bergh, the Revs need to close down Ferreira if they hope to keep Cunningham from extending his goal-scoring streak to five games.

And while you could say that the Revs would normally want to go into the Cotton Bowl and just keep things solid, they really do need to keep bagging wins and points at a pace of about 1.5 per game during the run-in to guarantee that they are still playing soccer in November.

There’s no Jankauskas for this big game – he’s injured – so the question is, does Nicol push Joseph up top as the target forward, or does he make the more conservative choice and hope that the likes of Dube or Mike Videira can hold the ball up effectively? If the latter tactical approach is in fact the way the Revs choose to play, Nicol will be looking for a goal off of a fast break or set piece, neither, of which has been the Revs’ strong suit this season…

We’ve got the first team on In the Net this week: Greg Lalas, Frank Dell’Apa and Paul Mariner are my scheduled guests.