Next year, he'll be holding a stethoscope, not a lacrosse stick. He'll be wearing a white gown, not a Crimson jersey.

Next year, Bill Pennoyer--the Harvard lacrosse tri-captain and two-time All-Ivy defenseman--will be enrolled at Dartmouth Medical School. But all the rigors of the medical training--the cadavers, the scholarly palavers--will not keep him away from Ohiri Field.

"I'm going to be an active alumni supporter," Pennoyer says. "There was a good group of people following us around this year--all the seniors from years before. I see myself coming into Boston a few times next spring to watch some lacrosse."

And no one will have to ask if there's a doctor in the house.

This year, Pennoyer helped lead his team into the NCAA Tournament, the first time a Harvard lacrosse squad had appeared in the tournament since 1980. The Crimson fell to Navy, 10-9, in the opening round.

"It was disappointing, but if we had to lose that was the way to do it," Pennoyer says. "Somebody had to lose the game. If we had played a bad game, everyone would have been let down. The goals just didn't turn out the way they should have."

Harvard made the grade because of defense. If Harvard's opponents got past the midline, they had to contend with the Crimson's Triple Towers--Pennoyer and fellow Tri-Captains Michael Bergmann and Rich van den Broek.

Before becoming Harvard's head coach, Scott Anderson coached the defense. So it was only natural the defense should get the top billing on this year's team.

"[Anderson], is the one who developed our defense, which supposedly was so good this year," says Pennoyer. "He was responsible. We really got close to him. He's a friendly coach. You know him as a friend and also as a coach."

Pennoyer sees Harvard's offense moving to the forefront of the program in years to come. Freshman Mickey Cavouti and sophomore David Kramer will lead the offensive attack into the 1990s. Even without the Triple Towers, the defense, too, should remain solid, Pennoyer says. He'll be there on the sidelines to make sure of it.

As for advice to his teammates, the future doctor has just one bit.

"Just keep having fun with it," Pennoyer says.