The United States Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team improved to a 3-2 mark in 1999 earning a split last weekend, losing to the 11th ranked Ithaca College and defeating the City College of New York.

Kings Point (3-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 12-9 win over CCNY (2-3) on March 21. The Mariners jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first period with two goals by freshmen George O'Connor (Commack, NY) and one by Phil Egge (Alexandria, VA), CCNY got on the board with a goal by senior George Berry (New York) in the 8:53 of the first period, but then senior Jack Garcia (Acton, MA) tallied the Blue and Gray's fourth goal with just 1:52 remaining. The Mariners outscored the Beavers 5-3 in the second period to take a 9-4 lead going into the intermission.

CCNY caught fire in the third period shutting out Kings Point 3-0 and cutting the lead to 9-7. Senior Hector Munoz (Maywood, NY), sophomore Joshua Green (New York) and Berry each notched a goal during that span. Junior Brandt Hager (Annapolis, MD) ended the Mariners' scoreless drought with back-to-back goals in a span of 28 seconds to give Kings Point an 11-7 lead with seven minutes remaining in the fourth period. A minute later, sophomore Brian Cepelak (Northport) added another goal for the Blue and Gray.

Down 12-7, the Beavers continued to pressure the Mariners' defense and got two goals back late in the game. Green scored his second goal of the game in the 5:17 mark, while Berry tallied his fifth eight seconds later, but Kings Point held on for the victory.

Junior goalie Morgan Ames (Alexandria, VA) made 29 saves for the Mariners, while senior Peter Saad, (Syosset) had 30 saves for the Beavers.

On March 20, the Mariners dropped their second straight home game of 1999 with a 14-3 loss to the 11th ranked Ithaca Bombers on March 20. With 8:36 left in the first half, Ithaca (2-0) broke a 1-1 tie with four straight goals in a span of five minutes to take a 5-1 lead.

In the second stanza, the Bombers added five tallies to increase their lead to 10-0. Phil Egge ended the Bombers 9-0 run with an unassisted goal in the 6:00 of the third period for the Mariners. Ithaca would respond with three more goals in the fourth period. Brandt Hager notched the Blue and Gray's third goal with 4:44 remaining.

Ithaca outshot King Point 48-19 in a game that was dominated by the Bombers from the start. Egge led the Mariners with two points (one goal and one assist), Hager and freshman Gray Harrison each had one tally, while senior Rocky Curtis (Boca Raton, FL) added one assist. Morgan Ames made 24 saves in goal, while freshman Teague Murphy (Long Beach) had two saves for Kings Point.