The U.S. men’s hockey team meets Slovakia in a quarterfinal game.

The U.S. men’s hockey team, which rose to the Olympic tournament’s top seed after a perfect preliminary round, will return to the ice on Wednesday afternoon for a quarterfinal game against Slovakia.

The game, at National Indoor Stadium, could be a potent test for the Americans: Slovakia beat Germany, 4-0, on Tuesday. The United States managed to beat the same German team by a single goal on Sunday.

“We’re a really fast, skilled team, so the more that we can do to tighten up the smaller areas, like face-offs, those little things are so important to help you win the tight games that we’ll be playing in,” Sean Farrell, an American forward, said in an interview on Tuesday. “We kind of got a taste of that against Germany.”

The teamis the youngest from the United States at a Games since 1994 and includes 15 current college players and a lone returning Olympian, Brian O’Neill.

Slovakia, which arrived in Beijing ranked No. 9 in the world, has a roster that includes Juraj Slafkovsky, a 17-year-old forward who is second in goal scoring during these Olympics.

“They have so much speed and quickness, and I think it will be important for us to have good sticks, sticks on pucks, win the battles when we have to,” Craig Ramsay, Slovakia’s coach, said of the Americans.

But, he added, the “speed and aggressiveness” that have characterized the Slovakian team could be the key to unlocking the Americans — and any other team in the tournament.

Slovakia lost to Finland and Sweden in the preliminary round.