With Humboldt and all of Saskatchewan at the centre of their thoughts, the Saskatchewan Rush hit the court on Saturday night in front of 14,971 fans at SaskTel Centre.

The Rush wore #SaskStrong Broncos stickers on their helmets as they locked up first place in the National Lacrosse League with an 11-8 win over the Colorado Mammoth.

Robert Church (three goals and four assists) and Mark Matthews (one goal and six assists) had seven points each to lead the way for the Rush in the massive win, which locked up home-turf advantage throughout the Champion’s Cup Playoffs for Saskatchewan.

Colorado’s Ryan Benesch opened the scoring in the game, but the Rush held the Mammoth to just two goals in the first half.

Matthews, Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan scored in the first quarter for the Rush as they built up a 3-1 lead, and then Church found the back of the net twice in the second quarter to give Saskatchewan a 5-2 advantage after two.

In the second half, the Mammoth pushed back, but the Rush had a response at every turn. 

Colorado opened with two goals in the third quarter, but Saskatchewan picked up goals from Keenan, Curtis Knight and Jeff Shattler over the final 8:25 of the quarter to make it 8-4 for the Rush.

Saskatchewan started strong in the fourth quarter as they looked to seal the win, picking up goals from Church and McIntosh in the opening five minutes to open up a six-goal lead.

The Mammoth fired back with four straight goals, but Rush captain Chris Corbiel stopped the bleeding, scoring with 30 seconds to go in regulation to seal the win.

Saskatchewan goalie Evan Kirk stopped 34-of-42 shots to pick-up the victory in goal.

The Rush have a 12-3 record with three games remaining in the regular season. They have clinched first place overall in the NLL and top spot in the West Division.

By clinching first place, the Rush have secured first round bye in the 2018 NLL Playoffs. They will host the West Division Final on Thursday, May 10 against the winner of the semi-final between the Mammoth and Calgary Roughnecks.

The Rush return to the court for two games this week, they will travel to Vancouver on Friday and then host the Georgia Swarm for a 2017 Champion’s Cup Final rematch on Saturday at SaskTel Centre.