Another crucial round in the varsity lacrosse team's drive toward the New England League championship opens at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Hanover, Dartmouth, one-time Notre Dame of N.E.L. lacrosse has slumped this year but still has enough power left to offer a serious threat to the Crimson ten.

Senior exams have cut into the Crimson's practice sessions this week, key defense reserve Ned Maroni has a Med School exam, and a series of minor injuries have cropped up to plague Coach Bruce Munro.

Munro, however, is not too worried about playing the Indians at Hanover, before the partisan Green Key weekend crowd. As he pointed out, the away-game factor should mean little since almost-ideal travelling conditions have been arranged. The 20-man squad will be able to practice at home this afternoon and still avoid a tiring Saturday bus trip by leaving Cambridge at 6 p.m. today.

Dartmouth has a strong club this year, but has been hard hit by Coach Tom Dent's early season illness and the cancellation of its spring trip. The Big Green routed M.I.T. by one goal more than the Crimson, and walloped Syracuse; losses were suffered to Hobart, Yale (5 to 4), and Springfield (13 to 12).

The Crimson has been more or less sneaking its way toward the top of the N.E.L. The Yale "Daily News" has already blandly conceded the title to the Elis, and the "Dartmouth" last week claimed that Williams, Springfield, and Yale "were the teams to beat." The Crimson meanwhile has been quietly amassing an N.E.L. record of five straight wins.

HARVARD: Attack: Plissner, Yost, and Hudner; Midfields: Waring, Post and Huebsch; Brooke, Lynch, and Graham; Thayer, Sawyer, and Wood; Defense: Spence, Coburn, and Byrne; Goal: Clark.

DARTMOUTH: Attack: Mason, Fowler, and Caldwell; Midfield: R. Fiertz, Lyon, and Geigerich; Defense: Fenton, Bloomer, and Fauver; Goal: A. Fiertz.