Malia Miller
Kiara Melendez
Alaska’s top two points leaders among NWAC women’s soccer players are set on a collision course in the league tournament.
Juneau’s Malia Miller and the Peninsula College Pirates await the winner of Pierce and the Portland Community College Panthers that includes Kiara Melendez of Anchorage.
The potential quarterfinals matchup would pit the league’s top two playmakers from Alaska against each other in the top half of the bracket. But first, Portland needs to win its opening game.
The No. 2 seed Panthers take on No. 3 Pierce on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to face No. 1 seed Peninsula in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Peninsula enters the playoffs riding a 17-game unbeaten streak after finishing the regular season with a 15-0-2 record.
Miller’s late-season goal spree propelled the Pirates to back-to-back wins last week. She netted one goal in a 2-0 win over Edmonds and then had two goals in a 3-0 win over Whatcom. Of her four goals on the season, these were the first for Miller since the first game of the season back on Aug. 25.
This is Miller’s first season at Peninsula after playing her freshman season at Bellevue College in 2019. She finished second in the NWAC that season with nine assists in 17 games.
The former Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year out of Juneau-Douglas High has furnished 28 points in 30 career games on eight goals and 12 assists.
Melendez enters the postseason ranked No. 1 among Alaskans with 14 points in 16 games.
Chloe Dolman
Miller is second with 11 points in 13 games, followed by Wasilla’s Chloe Dolman of Centralia with 10 points in 12 games.
Melendez, of West High, is tied for sixth in the NWAC with seven goals. Her latest goal came in the regular-season finale when she scored in the 76th minute to lift Portland to a 2-1 win over Southwestern Oregon.
Portland is 6-0 this year when she scores a goal. And 2-6-2 when she doesn’t.
Centralia didn’t make the playoffs, ending Dolman’s season.