The North Dakota State soccer team has become an offensive powerhouse this year, and no one has been more pivotal than sophomore forward Holly Enderle. Enderle, from Plymouth, Minnnesota, has been scoring at will this season. Her eight goals on the season rank second in the Summit League and put her at the forefront of the Bison’s attack. Strong with the ball at her feet, she is able to use an array of moves to beat defenders and find the back of the net.
In games in which Enderle has scored, the Bison are 4-0. She has had two hat tricks on the season, including one against North Dakota. Thanks in part to the production of Enderle, the Bison rank No. 3 in the Summit League in scoring. Enderle was a regular for the Bison in her first season, although her production has increased dramatically this season. In 18 games last year, Enderle had just one goal. This year however, she’s proven herself to be the top scoring threat on the team.
Enderle began playing soccer at a young age. The sport has always been a substantial part of her life.
“I think it’s kinda just one of those sports that you join when you’re younger just to get out and run around, so I’ve been playing it probably since I was four or five,” Enderle said. “I think my parents just put me in and I kinda liked to run around and I stuck with it.”
By the time she graduated high school, Enderle picked up even more sports. She was a letter-winner in hockey, lacrosse and track and field in addition to her soccer pursuits. Ultimately, Enderle decided to stick with soccer. Head coach Mark Cook and the rest of the team couldn’t be happier.
When asked who was most influential in her becoming a collegiate student athlete, Enderle didn’t hesitate.
“I would definitely say it has to be my parents just because they’ve been so supportive of me,” she said. “I was a three-sport athlete in high school and they were always running me around everywhere and kind of gave me a lot of freedom to choose what I wanted to do.”
Finally settled into conference play and wreaking havoc in the Summit League, Enderle and the rest of the Bison are focused on the conference tournament, which they will be hosting from Nov. 3 through the 5, but also are not taking their focus off the remaining schedule.
Enderle is optimistic about the Bison’s chances this year.
“Our final goal is to make it to the first round of the NCAA tournament,” she commented. “That’s definitely where we’re looking right now, but we’re definitely not overlooking these last (two) games.”
Hosting the tournament will definitely come with perks, Enderle explained. She said when it comes to playing surfaces the conference is split. Some schools have grass fields while others have turf. She added this is a major advantage for NDSU because no one knows the Dacotah Field turf better than the Bison.
“We’re really excited (to host),” Enderle said. “We like our surface, we know our surface and sometimes teams struggle on it. Our turf is super fast, and so we’re excited to be home. We’ve had a crazy travel schedule this year, so it’ll be good to be home for the tournament and have that home field advantage.”
“We always set lofty goals for ourselves because we believe in ourselves so much,” she remarked.
Winning at home will be hugely important for the Herd. In addition to the Summit League tournament, NDSU will still play one more game at home on Oct. 30 against Indiana Purdue of Indianapolis. If the Bison are to accomplish their goals, they’ll need Holly Enderle to keep scoring hers.