MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's hockey team announced its schedule for 2017-18 season on Thursday, which features many exciting matchups for the back-to-back WCHA regular season champions.

The Badgers, who advanced to last year's national championship game, will play 24 conference games against their six WCHA opponents and 10 non-conference games. After playing one of the nation's toughest schedules last year, UW will once again have a challenging slate as 10 of its' 34 regular-season games will be against teams that played in last year's NCAA tournament.

Highlighting the Badgers' non-conference slate is a pair of games in Washington D.C. against Boston University and Northeastern, two of the top teams from Hockey East, during the Thanksgiving weekend. UW will join fellow WCHA member Minnesota State in the tournament that will take place at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia on Nov. 24-25.

Wisconsin will make its first-ever trip to Ithaca, New York to take on 2017 NCAA Tournament participant Cornell and will take on College Hockey America's Lindenwood, Mercyhurst and Syracuse during its non-conference schedule.

In conference action, UW will face border-battle rival Minnesota in league play four times, including a regular-season ending series on Feb. 17-19 at LaBahn Arena. The Badgers and Golden Gophers, who also made the 2017 NCAA Frozen Four, have combined to win the WCHA 13 times over the last 14 years.

The Badgers will also tussle with Minnesota Duluth four times during the regular season, including a matchup Dec. 1-2 at LaBahn Arena. The Bulldogs ended last year ranked No. 5 in the country and finished third in the WCHA.

Wisconsin opens its 2017-18 season with an exhibition against the South Korean National Team on Sept. 16 at LaBahn Arena. South Korea is making a trip to the United States to play collegiate teams in preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Specific dates and times for UW's home schedule will be announced later this summer. Season tickets will go on sale on July 18 at 8:30 a.m. CT and fans can learn more about the season ticket process here