Revolution rue loss of Ralston

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The moment midfielder Steve Ralston limped off the field Saturday night, the Revolution were forced to think about a future without the veteran.

Ralston broke his right fibula in the 12th minute of a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards. The injury occurred after Wizards midfielder Herculez Gomez slid in to tackle Ralston just after the midfielder passed the ball. The league automatically reviews plays that result in injury, and if any disciplinary action is taken, it will be issued this week.

Ralston said he expected to be out 6-8 weeks, and with two weeks left in the regular season, the soonest Ralston could be back would be if New England advanced to the MLS Cup final Nov. 23.

Ralston leads the Revolution with eight goals this season, a career high, and was an attacking midfielder in the team's 3-5-2 formation. He also has a team-best seven assists.

"It's a disheartening loss," said Revolution defender Jay Heaps. "[Ralston] is a class act and a class player, so when he goes down, we see him at halftime, we know it's pretty serious. He's a tough guy, so when someone like that goes down, it's a shock to the system."

At this point in the season, rosters are frozen and the Revolution will not be able to replace Ralston.

After Saturday night's match, coach Steve Nicol said, "He's the guy we want to be going forward and joining up with the forwards. The truth is we don't have anybody else to play that, so when you lose him, it changes drastically what you're capable of."

The Revolution (12-9-7, 43 points) have clinched a playoff berth but are trying to edge Chicago (12-9-7) for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Fire own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Revolution return to action Thursday at D.C. United.