San Jose, Calif. » Ned Grabavoy acknowledged being surprised when the San Jose Earthquakes cut him loose for nothing nearly three months ago, even though he'd felt all along that his style didn't really fit the way the team wanted to play.

But that doesn't mean he's dragging any hard feelings into tonight's reunion.

The veteran midfielder is poised to make his second straight start for Real Salt Lake when it meets the struggling Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium, still searching for its first road goal and road victory of the season. Yet he scarcely even thinks about getting cast off by the Quakes after starting 21 of 24 games for them last season, he said, except for the way it allowed RSL to grab him in the waiver draft and add a crucial element to its midfield.

"I think I've moved on pretty quick," Grabavoy said. "In the end ... it's a much better situation now, and I'm happy to be here."

Coach Jason Kreis is equally happy to have him.

He moved Grabavoy into the starting lineup for the first time last weekend, partly in an effort to shake up a team that still had scored neither a goal nor a point in the standings on the road all season, but also to reward the player whom RSL grabbed precisely to improve its experience and depth.

Grabavoy is at his best possessing the ball, and often felt miscast having to play more defensively in the central midfield for the Quakes while their outside wingers pushed forward with the strikers. His role with RSL allows him to work into the attack more with his passing and combination skills.

"He's been challenging for that stating position for a long time," Kreis said. "And really, the past three weeks he has been sparkling in the training sessions."

Grabavoy earned high marks for helping RSL earn a scoreless draw at D.C. United, and seems a good bet to remain in the starting lineup tonight as the team tries to build on the achievement. The odds appear as strong as they have in a long time for RSL, too, considering the Quakes are riding an eight-game winless streak in Major League Soccer, with only three goals in their last five straight losses.

"We're both in a similar boat," Kreis said, "in that if we had probably done a little bit better job of finishing chances, if we had played just a few more minutes of good soccer in all of our matches, we'd have more points" in the standings. The Earthquakes have the fewest in the league with just five from 10 games.

RSL has worked hard to re-establish defense as a priority the past couple of weeks, and encouragingly has avoided allowing early goals in each of its last two road games. Scoring remains a problem -- the team has been shut out in four of its last five games -- but the coaches and players generally believe that if they keep defending well, the goals will come.

"We just wanted to get back to fundamentals and getting good defending and then not worrying about the goals," defender Robbie Russell said. "Just making sure we have the good defense in, and if a goal comes, it's an added bonus -- especially on the road. We've definitely made huge strides towards that."

Grabavoy agreed, and said he's happy to have been rewarded for his patience and hard work in practice for RSL.

"Opportunities are always going to come," he said. "It's what you make of them, when they're there" that counts.

mcl@sltrib.com