Georgia moved a step closer to clinching first place overall, Saskatchewan won its division, Vancouver earned a playoff berth, and Buffalo and Calgary were eliminated from contention.

That’s the way things shook down on the second-last weekend in the NLL’s regular season.

Georgia bombed Buffalo, the 2016 NLL East champion, 20-7 Saturday to remain first overall with two games remaining.

Saskatchewan defeated Toronto 15-10 to win the NLL West, sending the Rock to the closing weekend unsure yet of a playoff spot.

Vancouver beat Colorado 13-7 to get to the playoffs for the first time since moving north from the Vancouver burbs four years ago. Appropriately, the Stealth did it on Fan Appreciation Night. The same two teams will square off in a single-game division semifinal the first weekend in May.

“We are 3-1 against them and it really does not matter to us if we play them here on in Colorado,”  Stealth defenseman Matt Beers said. “We know they are going to want those wins back but we are going to be ready for them.”

Idle Calgary players watched on video screens from afar as their chances of catching the Stealth died.

In one other game during the weekend, Rochester beat New England 15-13 to retain a far-fetched notion of making it into postseason play, while the Black Wolves lost an opportunity to nail down second place.

The Bandits’ fall from first to last was one of the most unexpected happenings of the season. Their hopes of prolonging their long-shot chances of making the playoffs suffered a setback in the morning shootaround when star forward Dhane Smith stepped on a ball and injured his left ankle seriously enough to take him out of the lineup. Captain Billy Dee Smith was already out with a pulled hamstring. Their teammates were no match for the high-scoring Swarm.

“That’s probably the worst beating I’ve taken in lacrosse, and it came on the most important night of the year,” Bandits defenseman Steve Priolo said. “That kind of sums of our season of bad luck and lack of effort and lack of passion.”

“There’s nothing worse,” forward Mark Steenhuis said. “Our season is done and we feel terrible.”

HISTORIC WIN

Derek Keenan is No. 1 in all-time coaching victories in regular season play after Saskatchewan’s 15-10 home win over Toronto. It was win 122 for Keenan, who moved one ahead of former Buffalo coach Darris Kilgour. When regular season and playoff wins are combined, Keenan (128) still trails Kilgour (133) — for now.

“It’s a nice milestone,” Keenan said of win 122.

“It’s awesome to clinch first, but it’s more important that we got the 122nd win for Coach Keenan,”  Rush goalie Tyler Carlson said. “It’s an honor to play for him.”

MORE MILESTONES

New England’s Shawn Evans picked up six points in the loss in Rochester to swell his career total to 1,002 and become the eighth player in NLL history with more than 1,000 regular season points.

Buffalo’s Mark Steenhuis picked up five points so now is two shy of 1,000. Steenhuis holds the single-game records for most assists, 13, and points, 17, set in 2009.

Buffalo’s Ryan Benesch continues to climb the all-time points ladder. He has 828, moving him past Tracey Kelusky (823) and to within five of 12th-placed Blaine Manning (833).

With four goals and two assists Saturday, Rochester’s Dan Dawson now has 800 career assists. The top four playmakers in indoor pro lacrosse history: John Tavares (934), Josh Sanderson (908), Colin Doyle (800) and Dawson.

GRANT’S STATUS

While John Grant Jr. announced his retirement from the MLL last Wednesday, he remains on Colorado’s NLL roster on injured reserve.

“John’s MLL decision has no impact on his status with the Mammoth,” Mammoth GM Steve Govett said.

The Mammoth will make their own announcement on Grant at the appropriate time. He only played the first two games this season. In interviews last week, the NLL’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer said he did not expect to be in an NLL game again this year.

“I’m going to be on IR the rest of the year,” he said. “The way they’re playing, they don’t need me anyway. I’ll be rooting for them. I’ll be their biggest fan going down the stretch.”

SCORING RACE

Georgia’s Lyle Thompson, who amassed 10 points in Buffalo on Saturday, is the first player in Swarm franchise history to amass more than 100 points in a season. He leads the NLL with 108 this season, followed by Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews (107), Vancouver's Corey Small (104) and Calgary's Curtis Dickson (102).

ROCK RECORD

Toronto Rock forward Tom Schreiber continued to pull away in the league’s rookie scoring race and now has a club-record 85 points. The previous best for a Toronto rookie was 83 by Garrett Billings in 2010.

He has done it all while not being assessed a penalty all season.

LOVIN’ LOMAS

Rochester rookie Dan Lomas produced his best NLL game when his team needed it most. The Burlington, Ontario, native via North Carolina’s High Point University scored three goals and assisted on four in the Knighthawks' must-win victory over New England.

“He wasn’t in the lineup last weekend,” teammate Dan Dawson said. “He wasn’t moping around. The only way you can answer is when you get tested and Dan answered the bell. We’re very proud of his performance.”

“For Dan Lomas to come out and do that after missing last game, it shows how much character he’s got,”  teammate Joe Resitarits said. “There’s more good things coming from him.”

“He’s a hell of a player,” Knighthawks defenseman Ian Llord said. “That was a big game for him. He had something to prove and he had a hell of a night.”

KIRK HONORED

Defenseman Mike Kirk, who was a big part of Rochester’s championship teams of 2012, 2013 and 2014 and who retired last December, was honored in a ceremony during the Knighthawks’ home game Saturday.

“I always dreamt about winning a championship and winning three in a row is something I’ll never forget,” Kirk said. “It’s something only a small group of guys can say they accomplished together. No championship was the same. We won it a different way each time. I’ll never forget those feelings when the final buzzer went.”

He’s missed by his teammates.

“It is hard to appreciate how much a guy like Mike means to a team until he is gone and there is just this unexplained void on your team,” Scott Campbell said. “The car rides are longer, the flights aren’t as fun, the dressing room is uneasy, and our opponents are a little braver.”

TIME TRAVEL

MAY 3, 2003: The visiting Toronto Rock jumped ahead 5-0 then held off the Rochester Knighthawks for an 8-6 victory that earned them a fourth title in five years. Goaltender Bob Watson earned MVP honors. Jim Veltman and Steve Toll each scored twice and Colin Doyle, Pat Coyle, Pat Merrill and Chris Driscoll once. John Grant Jr. led Rochester with three goals.

“To hold John Grant and company to six goals — unbelievable,” Veltman said.

“We don’t get a lot of personal awards, but we keep putting rings on our fingers, and that’s all that matters,” Doyle said.

“A lot of people said we couldn’t win this again,”  Rock defenseman Dan Ladouceur said. “They doubted us. We proved everybody wrong.”

WEEK 18

Six games close out the 79-game regular season. Georgia, Rochester and Saskatchewan each play twice.

(All times Eastern)

FRIDAY

Georgia (12-4) at Rochester (6-10) - 7:30 p.m.

Georgia can nail down first overall by winning at least one game in a home-and-home set with Rochester.

Rochester has to win to stay alive. A loss eliminates them from contention for a playoff berth. Beating New England on Saturday gives the Knightawks hope.

“It was a great win and now we’ve got to transfer that energy over to next week,” Llord said. “We’ve got to have a good practice this week and go work hard against Georgia.”

Georgia has won four in a row. The Swarm are 5-3 on the road. Rochester is 4-4 at home.

Saskatchewan (11-5) at Colorado (9-8) - 9:30 p.m.

The Rush used Tyler Carlson in goal in the win over Toronto because Aaron Bold was banged up. They might as well use Carlson again this weekend and give Bold plenty of time to get back into top form. With a first-round playoff bye, they won’t play again after this weekend until the second weekend in May.

Colorado will want to win this one because, if it does not, it might be bumped out of second place by surging Vancouver.

This will be the third and final meeting. The first two were played in Saskatoon and the Rush won both by one goal — 8-7 on Feb. 18 and 12-11 on March 11.

Saskatchewan is 3-4 on the road. Colorado is 5-3 at home.

SATURDAY

Vancouver (8-9) at New England (8-9) - 7 p.m.

If Colorado wins Friday, Vancouver will finish third in the NLL West and could rest goalie Tye Belanger, whose 52-save performance Saturday was typical of his play this spring. If Colorado loses Friday, the Stealth will want their best lineup on the floor to try to win this one and finish second in their division to get home floor for the semifinal.

This is the only meeting this year.

Vancouver has won three of its last four games.

Vancouver is 4-4 on the road. New England is 5-3 at home.

Rochester (6-10) at Georgia (12-4) - 7:05 p.m.

This will be Georgia’s last game before a May 20 home division finals date.

Rochester needs to win both games against Georgia this weekend and get a Vancouver win over New England to get into the playoffs. It would take a miracle.

Impressive Rochester rookie Kyle Jackson ends his season on injured list.

Rochester is 2-6 on the road. Georgia s 7-1 at home.

Toronto (8-9) at Buffalo (6-11) - 7:30 p.m.

A Toronto win and a New England loss would give the Rock second place in the NLL East and home floor for the semifinals the following weekend.

A Toronto loss combined by two wins by Rochester over Georgia and a loss by New England to Vancouver would create a three-way tie at 8-10 in the NLL East. In that scenario, the Rock would miss the playoffs.

Toronto is 4-4 on the road. Buffalo is 3-5 at home.

The Rock have lost four in a row.

“We need to get better and keep fighting and stick together,” coach Matt Sawyer said. “There’s no use in pointing fingers right now.”

The Bandits are done and could give some practice players a game.   

Saskatchewan (11-5) at Calgary (7-10) - 9 p.m.

The Rush can rest players. Calgary hopes they do, because the Roughnecks would love, after all their misery this year, to go out with a win for their home fans.They’d also love to break their 11-game losing streak to the Rush — including regular season, preseason and playoff games — since a 2015 playoff win.