Grabavoy, Moor make return from National team, start in title game

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Figuring he had played his last game of the season for IU in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Nov. 16, IU junior forward Ned Grabavoy broke down in tears.\nAfter the dramatic win against Penn State in the title game, an emotional Grabavoy was overwhelmed, yet he said he couldn't pass up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play for the U20 U.S. National team.\nAlong with Grabavoy, sophomore defender Drew Moor also participated in the U20 FIFA World Youth Championships in the United Arab Emirates.\nThe U20 National team lost to Argentina, 2-1, Friday. With the loss to Argentina, the U.S. team finished fifth in the final standings, making it possible for the two IU standouts to return for the National Championship game -- IU coach Jerry Yeagley's last match.\nGrabavoy's flight arrived Saturday night, but Moor almost didn't make it back in time.\nMoor was set back in Germany, and missed his connecting flight to Chicago. Arriving at the gate too late, he said the people at the airport wouldn't let anyone else on the flight.\n"It was probably the longest two days of my life," Moor said. "I just wanted to get here as quick as I could ... I didn't think I was going to make it." \nMoor was able to find a flight to New York and got there at about midnight Saturday. Sunday morning, he took a flight from New York to Columbus. He said it felt like he would never arrive in Ohio. Yeagley said Moor got to Columbus at noon Sunday, just two hours before the scheduled start time of the championship match. Sure enough, Moor was there, right beside Grabavoy, when the Hoosiers took the field for warm-ups.\nBoth players hadn't played a postseason game this year for the Hoosiers. However, both started and played in the National Title game against St. John's Sunday.\nGrabavoy's presence was felt early in the first half of the game against St. John's. The All-American recorded the first goal of the match in the 16th minute. It was his 11th goal of the season and first since Oct. 24 against St. Louis. Grabavoy nearly played the full match, while Moor played the full 90 minutes. Friday, after IU's win 1-0 against Santa Clara in the semifinals, it was suspected that Grabavoy and Moor would play but not start.\nAt the pre-championship match press conference Saturday, Yeagley said having Grabavoy return to the lineup would be an offensive advantage. Little did he know Grabavoy would score in the first 15 minutes of the game. \n"Having Ned available will give us an offensive boost, but sometimes the team depends on him too much," Yeagley said. "We need to insert Ned in a positive way that will benefit the team."\nGrabavoy was substituted out late in the game, while Moor played the whole contest.\nThe Red Storm scored their only goal of the match in the 79th minute. That score cut the IU lead to 2-1 late in the second half. Thirty-five seconds after St. John's goal, Yeagley decided to take Grabavoy out of the contest. Sophomore midfielder Pat Yates, who had the game-winning goal against Santa Clara in the semifinals, replaced Grabavoy at the 79:38 mark. \nYeagley said the IU coaches had given serious thought to substituting players in for both Grabavoy and Moor.\n"We took Ned out, because he just couldn't go anymore," Yeagley said. "It's tough when you get a two-goal lead early as we did. You know you're going to be under pressure because the other team really has to send people forward and take risks to get the numerical advantage, and they did. It was a matter of us holding up."\nYeagley also substituted a player in for senior defender Drew Shinabarger, who was playing his last game in an IU uniform. Yeagley said Shinabarger was totally exhausted and that's why he made that change.\nAt the same time, St. John's coach Dave Masur said he had his team prepared for a number of scenarios, including the possibility of playing against arguably IU's two best players. \n"We prepared and imagined that both Ned and Drew would be here for the game," Masur said. "I think that's been the plan for a long time. It certainly was no surprise they were here."\nGrabavoy said he will have to sit down sometime in the next couple of days to figure out if he is going to turn pro, or return to the Hoosiers for his senior campaign. Grabavoy said he considered making the jump to the professional ranks after his freshman and sophomore seasons. The junior co-captain was a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy earlier this season.\nYeagley said having Grabavoy and Moor provided the team with a morale boost as well as extra incentive to win the match. He said that story added to the dramatics of the weekend.\n"Maybe in a couple of days, I'll collect myself," said Yeagley, who closed his career with his sixth National Championship. "But I did have the strangest feeling after the game was over. It's almost surreal, and I asked the guys in the locker room after the game 'Is this a dream, or is this real?'" \n-- Contact staff writer Zack Eldridge at zeldridg@indiana.edu.