HARTFORD, Conn., May 9 -- The Trinity College men's lacrosse team, which finished the 2000 regular season with a 9-4 record, has earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship Tournament. The Bantams will host No. 5 Wesleyan University on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

The bid gives the Bantams two ECAC post-season appearances in the last three years. Trinity, coached by NESCAC Coach of the Year Mike Darr (22nd season), played in the quarter-finals of the ECAC tourney in 1998.

The Trinity squad, ranked No. 5 in New England and tied for No. 17 in the nation, won its first eight games of the 2000 season before dropping four of its last five. Trinity losses came against NCAA-bound Middlebury College, 18-10, and the top three-seeded ECAC participants: No. 1 Bowdoin, 16-11, No. 2 Williams, 17-13, and No. 3 Eastern Connecticut, 7-3. The Bantams posted victories against ECAC No. 6-seed Tufts, 15-8, and No. 7-seed Bates, 15-10.

Senior All-NESCAC defense Robb Kennedy (Darien, CT) leads an outstanding Trinity defense, which held opponents to 9.62 goals per game. Kennedy joins senior Bill Moyer (Brookline, MA), sophomore Matt Gjerulff (Rockville, MD), and freshman Will Seifert (Tampa, FL), along with senior tri-captain goalkeeper Matt Jerry (Acton, MA) in the backfield. Jerry, second on the Trinity all-time save list with 698, had 190 saves for a 61.1 save percentage and a 9.81 GAA this season.

Senior tri-captain and All-NESCAC attackman Bobby Souers (Montgomery Village, MD), the College's all-time assist leader and second all-time leading scorer, leads the Bantam offense with 33 goals and 20 assists. All-NESCAC midfielder Mark Tassie (Hopewell, NJ) has 20 goals and 15 assists in 10 games, senior All-NESCAC attackman Andy Hayes (Philadelphia, PA) has 27 goals and seven assists, senior attackman Alex Ullman (North Haven, CT) has 17 goals and 13 assists, and freshman attackman Ravi Pillay (Bethesda, MD) has 22 goals and seven assists.

Wesleyan posted a 10-4 record in 2000, including victories over Bates, and Tufts, both 13-10. The Cardinals started out 7-1 before losing three out of their next five games, but finished the season with a pair of wins. Junior All-NESCAC attackman John Landay (Baltimore, MD) and sophomore attackman Andrew Rotando (Boston, MA) combined to score 76 goals and 55 assists for the Wesleyan offense, while senior tri-captain All-NESCAC defense Andrew Klatell (New Canaan, CT) and junior goalie Lukas Cash (North Attleboro, MA) anchor the Cardinal defense.

The tournament field consists of eight teams, including six from the NESCAC. The four first-round games will be held on Wednesday and the semifinals and finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the site of the winner of the Trinity/Wesleyan game.