BUTLER TWP — His physical size doesn’t matter. Neither does the name of his coach.

When it comes to lacrosse, all that matters to Butler senior Jamison Smith is effort.

Through five games this season — all losses — Smith has tallied a team-leading 15 goals for the Golden Tornado. Nico Cicco is second on the squad with six.

After scoring 10 goals as a sophomore midfielder in 2013, Smith moved to an attack position last year and tallied 30 goals.

“My goal this year is to accumulate 100 points total, between goals and assists,” Smith said. He has six assists on the young season.

He stands only 5-foot-10 and weighs 175 pounds, yet Smith has been a quarterback in football since fourth grade and has been playing lacrosse since sixth grade. Butler’s boys lacrosse program is on its fourth head coach — Justin Karam — in three years.

“The system isn’t all that complex in high school lacrosse,” Karam said. “Sure, every coach tweaks it a little bit, but this game is more about having a mental edge than anything.”

And Smith definitely has that.

“Most of the defenders I’m trying to beat are bigger than me,” Smith said. “I try to avoid the contact, but, yeah, I get banged around a little bit.

“Size doesn’t make that much of a difference. It’s the same as playing quarterback ... Heart, determination and effort are what get it done.”

Karam described Smith as a versatile player who can get to the net in a variety of ways.

“He can dodge defenders, weave his way through them,” the coach said. “Jamison can play a finesse game or he can fight through the contact.

“He knows how to utilize his size and speed and he adapts to whatever defense he’s facing.”

Smith enjoys the fast-paced action in lacrosse and gave up baseball for it in sixth grade.

“Baseball had too much standing around for me,” Smith said. “For years, my dream was to play college football. But once I saw how I took to lacrosse, that all changed.”

Smith will continue his academic and lacrosse career at Wheeling Jesuit University in the fall. A Division II program, Wheeling Jesuit is 5-4 so far this season and went 10-3 last year.

Kevin Dugan, in his second year as coach of the Cardinals, was a midfielder on the 2001 Notre Dame team that reached the Final Four.

“I’m looking forward to playing for him,” Smith said. “I’ll be going back to midfield there at first, but they may move me to attack later on.”

Smith also plays for True Lacrosse in Pennsylvania and made that organization’s national team. He credits True coach Dan Usaj for helping him with the recruiting process.

Lake Erie College, Seton Hill and Wingate were other schools looking at Smith.

While with True, Smith played in tournaments held in West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

“I got some great exposure and experience there. It definitely elevated my game,” he said.

Smith and Lucas Dubyak’s are Butler’s only lacrosse seniors this season. Twenty-five members of the 34-player roster are freshmen or sophomores.

“We’re a team in transition, looking to build something,” Karam said. “There’s been so much coaching turnover here and we’re trying to make things stable.

“Jamison’s been impressive as a leader in that sense. He knows what we’re trying to do. He and Lucas are helping to bring the younger guys along.”

Smith takes that leadership responsibility seriously.

“They’re the future of this program,” he said. “We want that future to be good.”