Saskatchewan Rush doubles Colorado's score in Game 1 of West final

The defending champion Saskatchewan Rush team isone win away from heading back to the Champion's Cup final.

Saskatchewan's Adam Jones had six goals and three assists and Ben McIntosh had four goals and three assists as the Rush crushed the Colorado Mammoth 18-9 on Saturday in Game 1 of the National Lacrosse League West Division final.

"Our defence was so strong in the second half and that just trickled the confidence toward the offensive end," said Jones. "Anyone on our offence can get the hot stick and it happened to be me tonight. We got some key defensive stops early in the third. It was a good team win."

Playing in his first career West Final, the former Colorado star who was acquired by Saskatchewan in an off-season trade, finished with nine points against his former team.

Saskatchewan led 9-8 after three quarters before blowing the game open with a 9-1 run in the final quarter.

Mark Matthews had two goals and seven assists while Robert Church added two goals and six assists for the Rush, who got singles from TorReinholdt, Mike Messenger, Curtis Knight and RyanKeenan.

"It was tight going into the fourth quarter and we got on a roll," said Rush GM and head coach DerekKeenan. "This is a game of runs and we got on a big one. We got goals in a lot of different ways transition, power play. I thought Mark's goal at the start of the fourth was a big one. We made a little adjust to our shooting and it paid off."

Jeremy Noble had four goals and an assist to lead the Mammoth while Eli McLaughlin struck twice.

Aaron Bold finished the match with 31 saves in the Saskatchewan net.

The two-time defending NLL champion Rush are now just one win away from reaching the Champion's Cup Final for a third straight season, and they have that opportunity next Saturday on their home turf at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Colorado needs a victory to force a 10-minute tiebreaker, which would then be played to decide who advances to the Champion's Cup.