So Hill came out against DePaul and scored twice before mimicking those efforts in the next contest two days later at Bowling Green — earning her the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week crown.

Heyboer sits atop the Big Ten leaderboard with six goals, as well as 15 points. Hill is nipping at her heels with five goals and 12 points.

“It’s not a hostile competition, it’s more like Lauren Hill says, ‘Look, I’m a good forward too and I’m going to prove it,’” head coach Tom Saxton said. “And that’s exactly what you want. Whether it’s on coach (Tom) Izzo’s team with some of his scorers or on the football team with the wide receivers.

“Whatever it is, you try and feed off each other’s success.”

And as their friendship continues to grow, Heyboer and Hill agreed that their chemistry and success on the field will only become more lethal to the competition.

“Now we’re getting to the point where we don’t even need to look at each other to know where the other is,” Heyboer said. “We are what the other needs out there — I’m just taking in everything that she has to give me.”

This was evident Friday when Hill stormed down the right side of the field before tiptoeing past two defenders into the goalie box.

Instead of tapping it in, Hill touched a gentle, yet crisp pass to Heyboer who ran up the middle and smashed it in — giving Hill the assist as opposed to the goal.

And just because Hill has two years of seniority on her freshman teammate doesn’t mean she doesn’t notice aspects of her own game that Heyboer can help her improve.

“I definitely have looked up to how composed she plays,” Hill said. “Her skills are tremendous and I look up to that a lot too. When she turns to take a shot, I want to turn and take a shot the next time.

“A lot of what she does I want to (mirror), and I think it’s the same with her for me.”

Similar to a point guard and shooting guard in basketball, the soccer forwards show the most brilliance when the styles of the two players are different, yet find a way to perfectly align.

Saxton and his coaching staff said Heyboer and Hill are on their way there.

“Lauren Hill is a slasher in that she makes really good runs attacking the defense and likes to get the ball played into spaces and run onto it,” Saxton said.

“Laura has that in her game, but she is more, ‘Get it at my feet and see what I can do with it,’ so I think they compliment each other very well.

“They were both born to score, and that’s what they’ve been doing.”

And perhaps one of the biggest fans of the dynamic duo would be their teammate Lindsey Wrege, the Spartans senior goalkeeper who readily admits that she hasn’t had to do loads of work in the net yet this season.

A lot of that success she sends right in Heyboer and Hill’s direction.

“They make me feel much more confident in net,” Wrege said.

“It takes a lot of pressure off as a goalie to know they can score so many goals and give our team such an advantage every game.”

Junior midfielder Lauren Sinacola might have put it best when she said the duo is so easy to work with because they epitomize how soccer is supposed to be played — unselfish yet effective.

“It’s a blast working with them, getting them the ball to their feet and them laying it back,” Sinacola said. “They make everyone around them better. What more can you ask for?”