But the sudden switch didn’t affect the Spartans who scored three goals in the first 30 minutes before extending their record to 8-0-0 — the best start in program history.

“I think our early balls were working really well,” said junior midfielder Lauren Sinacola, who had two assists. “I think all of our goals were very unselfish. Lauren (Hill’s) goal that I assisted on, I could have shot but I saw she was the open player and I think we’re all being very unselfish teammates. It’s working well for us in all of our games.”

In the 16th minute, sophomore forward Cara Freeman deflected a corner kick rebound with her head to beat Titans goalkeeper Joanna Hinde — her seventh goal on the season.

Then just six minutes later, Sinacola found junior forward Lauren Hill on a centering pass allowing her to give the Spartans a two-goal lead.

And to wrap up the first 45 minutes of play, freshman forward Laura Heyboer got into the mix after receiving another Sinacola pass that allowed her to shed one Titans defender before swiftly netting her ninth goal on the year.

“I think we had some good moments in the first half but at halftime we all looked at each other and were very dissatisfied,” MSU head coach Tom Saxton said. “We were chewing on them at halftime. We said, ‘Hey, we’re better than this.’ I think the kids responded incredibly well.”

Heyboer kicked the ball across to Hill in the 14th minute allowing her to fling up a lofty shot at the net that bent in the air and swerved past Hinde’s outreached arms — Hill’s eighth goal of the season, giving her 20 points overall.

But Detroit Mercy wasn’t going to leave Okemos without lighting up the scoreboard once. On a penalty kick with less than two minutes to play, Selena Stanski roped a shot right through senior reserve-goalkeeper Danielle Petri’s arms.

But the Spartans immediately struck back with 1:10 to go when freshman midfielder Taylor Miller punched a centering pass into junior midfielder Katie Rehor’s foot and into the back of the net.

Miller, an Okemos High School graduate, said it felt good making an impact at home.

“It’s weird because I just finished high school a few months ago, but it feels great to be back,” she said. “The assist felt good, especially to be able to do that here.”

Saxton was able to clear most of his bench allowing many of his players to see quality minutes.

“The depth of our bench right now is amazing,” Sinacola said. “The fact that we can rest our starters and put in our nonstarters and not lose much on the field is really great and will only help us in the long run.”

Heyboer leads the team and the Big Ten with 24 points while Hill and Freeman are right behind her with 20 and 17, respectively — as the Spartans have outscored their opponents 27-3 this season.

MSU heads west Friday to battle BYU at 9 p.m. before heading back home to host its Big Ten season opener against Minnesota on Sept. 26.

“The kids are anxious to go and play a team with the quality of BYU and with that leading into the Big Ten (season) I think that sets up well for us,” Saxton said. “The pace is going to be so much quicker than what we’re used to. We have to keep our composure and keep up with their speed because these teams that we’ve been playing have a little bit slower style. If we can get through that first 10 minutes and think we’re comfortable at playing at that pace, then we’ll be fine.”