After sitting out eight games with a broken left pinkie finger, Geoff Hebert returned to the field, and the senior goalkeeper’s impact on No. 3 Stevenson was immediate.

The Mustangs sprinted past St. Mary’s in the semifinals of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday, cruising to a 16-3 victory. Compare that 13-goal margin of victory with the 13-10 decision Stevenson claimed in a regular-season meeting with the Seahawks on April 13, and it’s clear that Hebert is a key cog for the Mustangs (15-1), who next face No. 1 Salisbury in the CAC final on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Salisbury.

"He’s such a leader of our defense," coach Paul Cantabene said. "He knows the defense so well, and he’s able to call out when to go and when not to go. That was the biggest thing he brought back to us. It was great to have him out there, and I think it really showed."

Hebert, who stopped 17 of St. Mary’s shots, wore a little extra padding around the finger for protection, but Cantabene said he had no reservations about about starting him.

"He was ready to play, and we were going to play him," Cantabene said. "I don’t think you lose your position by injury. Geoff was the starter beforehand and he was going to go back to being the starter. The other goalies knew that. [Sophomore] Ian [Bolland], [freshman] Pete [Wesselman] and [senior] Andrew [Harrington] did such a great job of getting us through this month without him. So we had no qualms about putting him in."