Ghiselle Poblete
This past weekend, fourth-year point guard Ghiselle Poblete earned her first Athlete of the Week award. With 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, she played a decisive role in maintaining the Warriors’ lead in the Battle of Waterloo. She shot 6-13 from the field and 2-4 from deep, averaging 12.9 points per game this season. The Warriors are now one win away from taking home the Battle of Waterloo trophy, while holding down a spot in the OUA playoffs.
As top point getter of the night, the team’s offence was dictated by her pace. During the Battle of Waterloo, the Warriors stuck to what they do best: a fast, aggressive playstyle, anchored by rebounds and pushing transitions.
Living up to their gold-blooded standards, the team maintained their energy for the full 40 minutes. The loss of a teammate due to injury only fuelled them to play harder, culminating in a 68-64 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Growing up in Brampton, Poblete started dribbling on the sidelines of her older brother’s basketball practices at the age of three, continuing to get comfortable with the ball until she eventually made her first team in grade four.
“I’ve played every role that there is in basketball. I know how it feels to be a starter. I know how it feels to be someone on the bench or someone who doesn’t play at all,” she shares. “So I think that kind of shape[d] me [into] who I am now… and I appreciate everyone on the team no matter what their role is.”
Having recently returned to the team after a torn ACL, she recounted her experience going from a starter to not playing at all, and confirming her love of the sport along the way.
“You sit out for a whole year and people think that you just do nothing… but there’s so much work behind the scenes,” she describes. “You would be in the gym for longer than everyone else, just working on your knee. Every day while they’re on the court, you’re doing something else. And it gets lonely, but I think those are the moments that made me realize that I love basketball.”
When asked what kept her going even when she couldn’t see visible progress, she cited her faith and the people in her life. “They believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. I thought, oh, I’m gonna come back and I’m gonna be washed. They believed that I would come back and be better than before I was injured.”
Mathias Onuska
Third-year goaltender Mathias Onuska travelled to Ottawa to be recognized as a U Sports Top 8 Academic All-Canadian this week, meanwhile being bestowed with his second Athlete of the Week award back home in Waterloo.
Blocking 70 out of 73 shots across two games against the Western Mustangs and Toronto Varsity Blues, he posted a .956 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average. The Warriors secured back-to-back wins, defeating the Mustangs 5-2 and the Varsity Blues 2-1.
“I think it’s really a reflection of our team’s performance,” he says in reference to his Athlete of the Week award amidst the Warriors’ past two victories. “Our league is very competitive as a whole. On any given night, any team can really beat anybody. Both those teams are also in the pursuit of making the playoffs. So it was a really big test for us that if we wanted to be able to make the playoffs, we needed to win those games.”
The short-handed Warriors kept the games tied or at a one-goal advantage during critical penalty kills early in both games, giving them the momentum they needed to come out on top later on. They’re hoping to build off this confidence and maintain collective motivation as they head into their remaining six games, vying for a spot in the playoffs.
Onuska began playing ministicks with his older brother and sister at the age of six. Relegated to goalie because his siblings wanted to shoot on the net, he grew into the role and has stuck with it ever since.
After playing in the OHL for several years, he faced a big adjustment period upon arriving at university. Learning to balance school and sport, maintaining consistency and approaching things day by day paid off in the form of his Top 8 Academic All-Canadian award, granted to student-athletes who embody the highest standards of academic achievement and athletic excellence.
He takes the same play-by-play approach on the ice, drawing inspiration from his stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Getting to meet all those guys, [it was] kind of a once in a lifetime experience… it definitely gave me a lot that I could learn from in terms of the way those guys prepare for the game and go about their routine to be ready on the ice.”
“They never really got too emotional, up or down, during the game,” he reflects. “If something went wrong or something went right, they stayed even keel, which helped them focus on the next play, not really worrying too much about what’s already happening in the game, but what you need to do in any given moment.”
