Spitfires’ Onuska commits to Waterloo

The Waterloo Warriors men’s hockey program announced Tuesday that Windsor Spitfires overage netminder Mathias Onuska has committed for the 2023-24 season.

The soon-to-be 21-year-old from Waterloo will play at home next season after concluding an OHL career that spanned parts of three seasons, resulting in a 37-17-5-1 regular season record with a 3.89 goals-against average and .875 save percentage over 64 career regular season games between Windsor and London.

Originally drafted by the Kingston Frontenacs in the seventh round of the 2018 OHL Priority Selection, Onuska would backstop the Waterloo Siskins to a Sutherland Cup title in 2019, playing a postseason record of 20-6 as a 16-year-old. He’d spent time with both the London Knights and GOJHL’s St. Thomas Stars in 2019-20 before making the jump to full-time duty in the OHL in 2021-22.

Onuska helped the Spitfires win a Western Conference title in 2022, going 12-6-2-0 in the playoffs with a 2.77 goals-against average, .904 save percentage and one shutout.

The 6-foot-3, 180Ib. goaltender battled some injuries in his overage season with the Spitfires, finishing up with a 17-11-4-0 record in 2022-23. Perhaps the highlight of his season came following the conclusion of the OHL Playoffs, when he was summoned by the Toronto Maple Leafs to serve as an emergency back-up on April 11 in Tampa Bay.

Waterloo goaltender Matt Onuska is returning home committing to the @WlooMHKY program! We recently spoke to Onuska at the CIF, click the link for 519's full story. #LocalSports #OUA @wloobourque @WlooWarriors @KWSiskins @Waterloo_Wolves @WaterlooU16 https://t.co/fdG8ByYp1R pic.twitter.com/2NFx5nA0ug

— 519 Sports Online (@519sportsonline) May 23, 2023