The Saskatchewan Rush are one win away from heading back to the National Lacrosse League Championship Final.

Saskatchewan went into Denver on Saturday and doubled up the Colorado Mammoth, 18-9, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three West Division Final.

Adam Jones had a career-night with six goals and nine points in the win, while Mark Matthews finished with two goals and nine points.  Robert Church chipped in with two goals and eight points, and Ben McIntosh also had four goals and seven points for the Rush.

A nine-goal fourth quarter helped the Rush pull away from the Mammoth in what was a close game up until that point.

The first half was back-and-forth with Colorado jumping up to an early 2-0 lead before McIntosh and Ryan Keenan scored to tie the game up at 2-2 after one. McIntosh’s second of the game gave Saskatchewan a 3-2 lead just 1:30 into the second quarter, but Jeremy Noble scored his second and third goals of the game to put Colorado back in front.

Tor Reinholdt and Church scored back-to-back goals to give the Rush the lead again, but Jacob Ruest scored with 1:06 to go in the first half to tie the game at 5-5 after 30 minutes.

A four-goal outburst in the third quarter, with Jones scoring twice and Church and McIntosh also finding the back of the net, gave the Rush an edge on the Mammoth heading into the fourth quarter at 9-8 and then they took over in the final frame.

The Rush scored seven straight goals in a span of 9:29 in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a blowout. Jones found the back of the net four times in the frame; Matthews scored twice; McIntosh potted his fourth of the game; while Curtis Knight and Mike Messanger also scored in the final frame.

Saskatchewan out-shot Colorado 57-40 in the game with goalie Aaron Bold turning away 31 shots for the win.

The Rush also picked up 73 loose balls to 60 for Colorado and went 4-for-7 on the power play.

Saskatchewan will now have a chance to clinch a third straight finals berth on their home court this Saturday when they host the Mammoth for Game 2 at SaskTel Centre. If necessary, a mini Game 3 will be played immediately following Game 2.