Opponent: at Duke
Date and Time: March 15, noon
The Skinny: Georgetown looks to avenge a heart-breaking 12-11 home loss when they travel to Durham for a pre-St. Patrick’s Day matinee against the Blue Devils. Duke extended its winning streak to three over Georgetown last year as the Devils overcame a three-goal halftime deficit to nip the Hoyas in the final minutes.
This time around, Georgetown will face a young Duke team with only seven seniors. But one senior, Caroline Cryer, is Inside Lacrosse’s preseason pick to take home player of the year honors.

Opponent: at Northwestern
Date and Time: March 28, 8 p.m.
The Skinny: The three-time defending national champions will host Georgetown for a Friday night primetime showdown. Led by five preseason all-Americans, the Wildcats are coming off of a championship season in which they suffered only one defeat: an opening-day, one-goal overtime loss to North Carolina. This game could be the toughest test of the season for the Hoyas, as they try to rebound from a season in which they failed to reach the NCAA tournament. Georgetown’s visit to Evanston, Ill., should serve as a gut check for a side that is no longer the singularly dominant team in the Big East.

Opponent: at Syracuse
Date and Time: April 5, noon
The Skinny: Georgetown continues its challenging schedule when the Hoyas go to Syracuse for the third of their four matchups with preseason top-five teams this season. As LaxPower’s pick to take the Big East regular season crown, the Orange, led by Katie Rowan and Halley Quillinange, will look to go from the co-champions they were last season to the champions. During the regular season, it took Georgetown two extra sessions to outlast the Orange and Syracuse knocked off the Hoyas in the league tournametn, so look for this one to be a hard-fought battle.

Opponent: Princeton
Date and Time: May 3, 1 p.m.
The Skinny: Following the conclusion of the Big East tournament, Georgetown will host the team that ended its season last year in the 2008 regular season finale. Although they entered last year’s game with the Tigers with NCAA tournament hopes, the Hoyas suffered a crushing 12-11 defeat in New Jersey that told the NCAA selection committee to pass on the Hoyas.
Entering the season as one of the nation’s top teams, Georgetown will be looking to right one of the wrongs of the 2007 season against a team coming off of an NCAA tournament appearance that brings back two all-regional players in Katie Lewis-Lamonica and Norris Novak.