WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University women's lacrosse squad released its 2017 schedule on Tuesday. The team will face six squads that finished 2016 ranked in the top 20 nationally as well as six NCAA Tournament qualifiers.

Georgetown will start off 2017 by traveling to the University of Delaware on Feb. 11. In 2016, Georgetown fell to the Blue Hens in the season opener at home by a score of 10-6. It will mark the sixth-consecutive year the Hoyas begin the year with Delaware.

The following Wednesday, Feb. 15, GU will make the short trip to George Washington's Mount Vernon Complex to take on the Colonials at 3 p.m. The squads haven't met since 2009, and Georgetown holds the 3-0 advantage in the series.

The Hoyas' first home game of the season will be a test on Feb. 18 as GU hosts the University of Maryland at Cooper Field. The Terps were the national runners-up and ranked No. 1 in the final NSCAA poll a season ago. This game begins a stretch of three-straight NCAA opponents as Georgetown hosts Towson University on Feb. 22 and will travel to Johns Hopkins University on March 1. Both were ranked among the top 20 and appeared in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

On March 4, the Blue & Gray will welcome George Mason University to Cooper Field. The Hoyas downed the Patriots, 15-12, last year and have a 13-0 series advantage.

After a week of practice, Georgetown will travel to the University of Pennsylvania on March 11 to kick off four-consecutive road contests. The Quakers went to the NCAA Tournament last season and finished the year ranked No. 11. Last year, the Hoyas dropped a 15-8 decision to Penn.

Georgetown opens BIG EAST Conference play at newcomer Butler University on March 18 at 1 p.m. This will be followed with a matchup at Loyola University (Md.) on March 22. The Greyhounds went to the 2016 NCAA Tournament and finished the season ranked No. 20 in the IWLCA poll.

The Hoyas will play four home games and four road contests in BIG EAST Conference play in 2017. The squad will face Temple University (April 1), Vanderbilt University (April 8), the University of Cincinnati (April 12) and newcomer the University of Denver (April 22) at home. Road matchups include Butler (March 18), the University of Connecticut (March 25), Villanova University (April 5), Marquette University (April 15) and the University of Florida (April 29).

The Gators were the lone BIG EAST squad to make the NCAA Tournament in 2016. The team finished the season ranked No. 2 in the country.

The BIG EAST Championship will be held May 4 and 6 at Villanova Stadium.

The Hoyas finished the 2016 season with a mark of 6-11 overall and 4-3 in conference play, which earned a BIG EAST Championship berth. The squad graduated eight seniors and one graduate student, but returns two of its top three scorers in 2017.