Stevenson captured its fourth Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth (MACC) tournament crown in four years with victories over Albright and Messiah despite the absence of starting attackman Wade Korvin.
The good news for the No. 10 Mustangs (15-4) is that the junior is expected to return when they play host to No. 16 Cabrini (14-4) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills.
Coach Paul Cantabene said Korvin, who ranks second on the team in goals (33) and third in assists (18), suffered an unspecified injury in a 7-6 double-overtime win against Widener on April 30 and was held out of the MACC tournament to get him healthy for the NCAA postseason.
"Obviously, you miss a playmaker like Wade, who can score in a variety of ways," Cantabene said Monday. "… We missed Wade's ceativity and toughness. We need him back because he's such a great playmaker."
Korvin's absence was filled by senior Pat Candon, who compiled six assists in the MACC tournament. Cantabene said Candon (13 goals and 17 assists in 2016) has developed into a well-rounded player.
"He usually is kind of a finisher, but I think Pat let the games come to him," Cantabene said. "When you've got [senior attackman] Matt Tompkins finishing the ball so well and [senior attackman] Stephen Banick finishing the ball so well and [junior midfielder Kyle] D'Onofrio and really improved play from [junior midfielder] Morgan Pritchett, I think Pat knows he doesn't have to score. He knows he just has to get the ball to the right people. When he drew attention, he was getting the ball to the right people, and I think that really helps his game in giving him a lot of confidence."
Stevenson has four attackmen in Banick, Tompkins, Korvin and Candon who can start, and that depth gives Cantabene some versatility.
"We can get guys in there," he said. "If one guy's not playing well, we can get another guy in there and pull him out and talk to him. So it's great to have a guy like Pat to get in there and fill his role. It's a great luxury for a coach to have four guys he can really count on."