The Piedmont Girls 19U team competed in the USA Hockey Southeast District Championships in Wesley Chapel, Florida from 10-12 Mar 2023, advancing to the championship game against the Nashville Jr. Predators.  This marked the third straight trip to the SE District Championships for much of the team.  Although the Preds lost the final to Nashville, they advanced to the USA Hockey National Championships for the second straight year by virtue of making it into the championship game.  The weekend started with a 5-2 loss to Nashville, with goals coming from Autumn Frear and Zaneta Kocourkova.  Needing two wins to advance to the final, the Preds were down 3-1 to Tri City late in the next game, but Ella Phillips scored with four minutes left to cut the lead to 3-2 and Zoie Kyle scored with less than a minute left and the goalie pulled to tie the game.  Zaneta Kocourkova won it with an overtime goal, and also added three assists in the game.  Maggie Cowden got the win.  In the next game, the Preds defeated Queen City 5-0 to earn their place in the final game.  Kocourkova again led the way with two goals and two assists.  Frear (2) and Phillips added the other goals, and Liz Moller got the shutout.  The Preds played Nashville much tougher in the championship game, but lost 4-1, with the lone goal coming from Kocourkova, who lead the team over the weekend with five goals and five assists in the four games.  The team will travel to Anaheim, California for the National Championship from March 30 through April 3.