By Jamie Neugebauer
Matthew Whittaker jammed home his first of the post-season at 8:22 of the third period, but it was too little too late as the North York Rangers fell 5-1 and were eliminated by the Toronto Patriots in Game 5 Wednesday night.
Jason Pucciarelli made 32 saves and was one of nine 20 year olds on the Rangers that played in their last junior hockey game.
Kevin Shier opened the scoring 2:10 into the second period when he pounced on and banged in a loose puck in the slot.
Nathan Feric doubled the lead at 14:21 of the middle frame and then Quinn Syrydiuk made it three 6:57 into the third when he deflected in a point shot from Tyler Enns.
After Whittaker’s tally, Jacob Hayhurst wired home a perfect cross-seam feed from Mike Prapavessis on the power play at 11:03, and then Ryall Ledyard fired into the empty net from centre ice to conclude the scoring.
The Rangers 2013-14 has come to an end while the Patriots will await the winner of the Buffalo-Georgetown series in the conference final.
