BUTLER TWP — The Butler boys lacrosse team spends plenty of practice time on shooting.

It shows.

Senior midfielder Tyler Kotch tallied five goals and five assists, while sophomore Cody Bachman contributed four goals and two assists in the Golden Tornado's 16-3 victory over Norwin Wednesday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The game concluded the regular season for both teams.

Butler (15-2) has scored 254 goals this spring, averaging more than 14 per game to lead all of Western Pennsylvania boys lacrosse.

"I'm an offensive-minded coach," Butler coach Ed Swierczyk said. "We spend 30 to 45 minutes every practice just on shooting drills.

"Tyler Kotch is such a versatile player. He always draws the other team's best defender and he knows how to find the open man and hit him with a pass."

Kotch assisted on three of Bachman's four goals Wednesday.

"I stand near the net, get open and he finds me," Bachman said. "Usually, I'm able to put the ball in the net."

The Tornado have done that with alarming regularity, scoring more than 10 goals in all but three games.

Kotch leads the team with 61 tallies. Bachman and Cody Conklin each scored their 50th goals of the campaign Wednesday. Nathan Barthlow has 26 goals and Cole Harvey notched his 20th in the victory.

By comparison, Matt Fitz leads Norwin (3-12) with 16 goals and the Knights have scored 68 as a team.

"We're a first-year varsity program, but we have 53 players combined for varsity and junior varsity," Norwin coach Jeff Braid said. "There's a lot of interest in this sport in our area.

"Butler has a high-powered attack. They pass the ball so well, work it around the perimeter. ... They're tough for any team to defend, let alone a young program like ours."

Bachman, Kotch and Conklin each scored within the first three minutes of the game, but Norwin trailed only 3-1 eight minutes into the contest.

"We have a tendency to play to our level of competition early and let our ego get in the way a little bit," Swierczyk said. "Once we settle down and move the ball, we usually find ways to score a lot of goals."

Butler put Wednesday's game away with three goals in the final four minutes of the first quarter. Bachman scored two of them off assists from Kotch, and Conklin added the third.

The lead ballooned to 9-1 by halftime. Once Butler had a 12-goal lead with 9:43 left in the game, the mercy rule went into effect and the clock ran continuously.

Conklin had two goals and three assists for the Tornado. Harvey had a goal and two assists, with Zach Harrison, Pat Hitchan and Isaiah Sawhney scoring a goal each.

Andrew Skundrich scored a pair of goals for Norwin, which was outshot 26-9. Goalie Alex Hill had six saves for the Tornado.

The No. 1 seed in WPIAL Division 2, Butler opens the playoffs at home next Wednesday. The opponent and game time have yet to be determined.

Butler lost to Greensburg Central Catholic in the semifinals last year.

"We don't feel like we're the team to beat," Swierczyk said. "Hampton is the defending champion and they're the team to beat."