No. 1 Stevenson's 16-10 loss to No. 2 Salisbury on Saturday was just one bit of bad news for the Mustangs that day.
Senior defenseman Evan Douglass had to leave the game with 7:26 left in the first quarter because a shot struck him in the stomach and caused him to bleed from the mouth.
Fortunately, the injury is not that serious as Douglass was diagnosed with bruised ribs and a bruised lung and could return in a couple weeks, Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene confirmed Monday.
"He's out of the hospital," Cantabene said. "He suffered bruised ribs and a bruised lung, so it looks like a week to two weeks. But he's all right. He's going to have to sit down for a while so that no other complications come about it. But he should be all right in a week or two."
Cantabene said the earliest Douglass could return is for the April 13th game against Capital Athletic Conference foe St. Mary's. But there is some consideration to holding him back until the CAC Tournament begins five days later.
"We've got to be very careful," Cantabene said. "If we bring him back too early, it could be a season-ending injury. ... We've got to think about health first because that was a scary scene."
Cantabene said freshman Kyle Finley will likely replace Douglass in the starting lineup and that sophomores Dan O'Donnell, Brooks DiFiore and Mathew Schenck could get some playing time.
"We think we can still play good defense," Cantabene said. "Our system is still what it is. That's why you recruit, to get good depth. I think Kyle will do a great job stepping in for Evan."
In other injury news, Geoff Hebert's broken left pinkie finger is healing nicely, and the senior goalkeeper could return in time for the CAC Tournament. Senior Andrew Harrington, who has won three of his four starts in place of Hebert, has registered a 8.29 goals-against average and a .469 save percentage.
"That all depends on what his doctors say and how the healing comes," Cantabene said of Hebert, who posted a 6.91 goals-against average and a .631 save percentage in seven starts. "We hope to have him back, but Andrew's done a fairly decent job in the cage for us so far, and we hope he continues to do so."
The loss to the Sea Gulls spoiled Stevenson's chances of matching last year's 14-0 start, but Cantabene said the first loss in 11 games isn't going to demoralize the team.
"It's just a little hiccup, we think," he said. "We're not going to throw out the baby with the bathwater. We're going to review what we do and what made us great for 10 weeks to get us to No. 1 in the country. Obviously, we're going to drop, but we still think we have a great team. We're going to have to make some changes, and if we get another chance to see Salisbury, I think it'll be another great game, and hopefully, we'll come out on top."