Real Salt Lake: Grabavoy contributes coming off the bench

SANDY — Real Salt Lake midfielder Ned Grabavoy admitted that he had mixed emotions about seeing his star teammate, RSL captain Kyle Beckerman, finally return from a foot injury that had sidelined him for two months.

Grabavoy knew, after all, that Beckerman's return to the side against Chivas USA on Saturday meant he would be returning to the bench — at least for the start of the match.

But on the other hand, Grabavoy recognized that Beckerman needed to be back in the team — and he wanted to see him back in action.

"He's such an important player and the leader of this team, and he's a guy that realistically needs to be out there in his position," said Grabavoy, who had filled in admirably during Beckerman's two-month absence.

"You look at it and I'm almost a fan at that point," Grabavoy added of seeing Beckerman return. "He's been one of my more favored players in the league to watch and to take things from. I'm happy that he came back (and) not only came back, but in his mind, looked good and confident."

Don't think for one second, however, that Beckerman's return means that Grabavoy's contributions will now be limited.

That's hardly the case, as the last year-and-a-half has proven, and that point was further driven home by Grabavoy just four minutes after he came on the pitch as a substitute for Beckerman on Saturday against Chivas.

Grabavoy scored a sensational goal with his left foot in the 66th minute of RSL's eventual 1-1 draw with Chivas before a full house at Rio Tinto Stadium, and in 28 minutes on the pitch, Grabavoy showed — yet again — that he'll be there to help the team.

"It just comes down to whatever's needed," said Grabavoy. "If we have a lot of guys get injured or pick up knocks along the way, it could be a situation where I need to play deep sometimes. (Or) it could be a situation where I'm playing high where Javi (Morales) is if he needs a break ... on the side of that diamond."

Positioned deep in the midfield Saturday, Grabavoy came up with a moment of offensive magic via a corner kick midway through the second half.

Morales whipped in a corner kick in the 66th minute, and it was subsequently cleared by Chivas forward Justin Braun, a Salt Lake City native.

However, Braun's clearance fell into the path of Grabavoy at the top of the 18-yard box, and he latched on to it and drilled it with his left foot into the upper-left corner of the goal.

"I didn't try to kill it; I just wanted to make sure I got it on frame," said Grabavoy. "With saying that, it seemed to pick up pace and curl into that top corner. Some days it goes over the bar — some days it finds the corner."

This day it found the corner, and it was a breathtaking moment for everyone inside Rio Tinto Stadium.

"It was fantastic," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "It's one of the few strikes that gets me to jump off my seat."

e-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com