North Stars’ Serpa commits to Plymouth State University for 2026-27 season

“I knew I needed to play a year of junior A in my age-out year to get to the level of college I want to play at,” he said.

“Either Division 3 or USports. I didn’t want to play a low level of college hockey. I wanted to play somewhere that means something and maybe have a chance to go in pro after.”

The Burlington, Ont., native talked to the school near the end of the regular season and, after he went back home for the off-season, went down to Plymouth to visit with his parents. He said it was a no-brainer after seeing the campus.

“I kind of knew that’s where I wanted to play. Seeing the campus and the rink, they took us out for lunch at a golf course…they treated me super well on the visit, and my parents saw that too. I knew that was the place I wanted to be right after the visit.”

When asked about specific amenities at the school that stood out to Serpa, he mentioned the training facility and community support.

“The gym is unreal. It’s huge. I think it just shows that they care a lot about the team,” he said.

“It’s kind of like known that the hockey team there means a lot, which is something I liked. They get a lot of support from the community.”

While it is a step up to the next level, Serpa said what he takes most from the SJHL experience is resilience, especially after the North Stars had a lengthy playoff run.

“I think in the regular season in juniors, some games don’t really mean a ton. But when you’re in college, you play 30 games. Most conference games are basically playoff games. I think the playoff run we had in the Battlefords really helped prepare me for this.”

The goaltender will have the opportunity to face former teammates Anthony Campbell and Alessio Nardelli when the Panthers take on the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals on Halloween night in Plymouth.

“Seeing them in a different jersey will be weird, but I think it’ll be fun. Maybe tap on the shin pads in warmups, just say hi, talk after the game…but during the game, they’re not my teammates anymore.”

As he moves to the next level, Serpa will always remember his time in the Battlefords.

“The support meant a lot. The fans were the reason, honestly, I decided to come to the North Stars. I talked to Connor (Logan) and I just kind of looked around the league and I saw they get a lot of fans and especially Battlefords fans are so awesome,” he said.

“It made it easy to choose Battleford as where I wanted to play hockey. The support all season from like my billets, other players’ billets, just the normal fan, our management, everybody, it was unbelievable and it was like a great last year of junior hockey.”

Last season, the Panthers finished third in the conference with an 11-6-1 record before falling in the LEC semifinals to Babson College.

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com

by Ryan Lambert

North Stars’ Serpa commits to Plymouth State University for 2026-27 season

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