FOXBOROUGH — Steve Nicol smiled as he stood at the podium during the postgame press conference waiting for the first question from the media. The smile was probably the result of the Revs’ 2-0 Sunday night over Chivas USA. Or maybe it was the fact that New England won its first regular-season MLS game since June 7. Or maybe it was because his leading scorer, Shalrie Joseph, returned to the field after missing seven games with a bruised knee helping the Revs break a 302-minute scoreless streak.

Clearly, Nicol had plenty to smile about.

After an uncomfortable first half that epitomized the inury-plagued Revs’ play of late, Nicol said he felt lucky to leave the pitch knotted at zero. The Revs desperately tried to keep possession, but lacked communication and confidence. It was only after Nicol’s halftime locker room speech and the insertion of Joseph into the game that the Revs looked as though they had been jolted to life.

“The first half was garbage, and we basically told them that,” Nicol said. “We couldn’t hit, we couldn’t pass, we couldn’t close, we couldn’t challenge, you name, it we couldn’t do it. The second half is always going to be better but at the end of the day you have to give them credit for stepping up. In the second half we looked comfortable, we certainly weren’t fluent but we looked a  lot better. Then after we scored it looked as though we were going to win the game.”

Joseph’s cross to Kheli Dube in the 61st minute ended the 300-plus minute scoring drought in regular-season play. Jospeh and Dube teamed up just minutes before the first goal for what looked like a sure netter, but Chivas keeper Zach Thorton swatted it away with his fingertips.

With Joseph in the game the Revs looked like a different team, keeping the pressure on Chivas and moving the ball up the field away from the Revs end. Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis only had three saves Sunday night a week after recording 11 saves against Kansas City, the most of his career.

“I get opportunities almost every game,” Dube said of his goal. “But when you’re playing two forwards, that’s a lot, especially for me with my type of play. I’m not typically a forward so it gets kind of hard but with Shalrie tonight it’s easier.”

Joseph hadn’t played since scoring the team’s only goal in a loss against Kansas City on June 13. The midfielder-turned-forward has been the team’s offensive spark in the absence of Revs’ resident playmaker Taylor Twellman, who still suffers from concussive symptoms dating back to last season.

Nicol erred on the side of caution with Joseph not wanting to aggravate the knee. He had hoped Joseph wouldn’t need to play in Sunday’s match, giving him another week of practice to strengthen the leg but the dismal first half necessitated a change. Nicol said Joseph was in his ear all week pleading for playing time.

“I felt good being out there playing again,” Joesph said. “I was begging for a half since last Wednesday in the SuperLiga final but I didn’t get it and this weekend I was begging for a half and we get the result and that’s all that counts.”

Steve Ralston was also back for the third game in a row, recovered from a hamstring strain that had recently sidelined him. His unassisted goal in the 77th minute solidified the win. Joseph had passed the ball off to Dube, who clipped the ball but lost control. It spun to Ralston who had the ball alone and put it past Thornton.

“We kind of needed this one,” Ralston said. “We’ve talked about how we have games in hand, we’ve had injuries and excuses but at the end of the day we need the three points tonight and it was great for us.”

Exactly halfway through the 30-game season, the Revs sit at an even 5-5-5 with 20 points a clear indication of their mediocre season. Yet as Ralston noted, the injured players are returning and with at least two games in hand on every team in the league, the Revs have potential for improvement in the second half. To help them out they will play the next five of seven in the friendly confines of Gillette, where they hold a regular season MLS record of 3-1-2. Yet with a tough challenge coming on Saturday night in Houston against the Western League leading Dynamos, the Revs can only hope to start the second half off on the right foot.

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