Great Britain Women will play two games against Slovakia Women in July as part of their preparations for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan.
The two sides will go head-to-head on Friday 15th July and Saturday 16th July 2016, with both matches taking place at the Zimný štadión Petržalka in Slovakia.
Slovakia are ranked 14th in the world, seven places above GB’s position of 21.
GB won a bronze medal at this year’s World Championship (Division 2A), while Slovakia were relegated from Division 1A into Division 1B.
Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: “Slovakia are a top-class nation and this is shown by their world ranking and at the level they have been playing at.
“This is perfect preparation for us in what will be a busy season, starting with the Olympic qualification tournament in Kazakhstan.
“They will be one of the toughest teams we have come up against in recent times.
“It will be great to play two games against them and see how we get on against a much higher-ranked nation.”
GB Women begin their bid to reach the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics with a four-team qualification tournament from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th November 2016.
As well as coming up against hosts Kazakhstan, GB will also face Poland and a qualifier from the the first preliminary round, which will be either Turkey, Mexico or Hong Kong.