Justin Inacio

Justin Inacio
Born (1998-11-06) November 6, 1998 (age 26)
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight188 pounds (85 kg)
ShootsRight
PositionDefence (box), Faceoff specialist (field)
NCAA teamOhio State (2022)
NLL draft10th overall, 2021
Calgary Roughnecks
NLL teamCalgary Roughnecks
PLL teamArchers
Pro career2022–
Websitehttps://justininacio.webflow.io/
Career highlights

PLL:

  • 1x Champion (2023)

NCAA:

  • Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2018)
  • Big Ten Co-Specialist of the Year (2019)
  • Second Team All-Big Ten (2019)
  • 2x Honorable Mention All-American (2019, 2022)
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Field lacrosse
World Lacrosse Championship
Runner-up 2023 San Diego

Justin Inacio (born November 6, 1998) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player who plays as a faceoff specialist with the Archers Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) and as a defenceman for the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).[1][2]

Inacio played college lacrosse for the Ohio State Buckeyes.[3]

Early and personal life

Inacio was born and raised in Oakville, Ontario as the son of Nelson and Sandra Inacio. He has an older sister. Inacio began to play lacrosse at the age of 4, and would go on to attend The Hill Academy, where he played lacrosse for head coach Brodie Merrill.[4][3] Although Canada rarely produces top faceoff specialists, Inacio was ranked as the top faceoff man in the class of 2017 and was an Under Armour All-American, earning a scholarship to play lacrosse at Ohio State University, becoming the first person in his family to attend college.[4][5]

College career

As a freshman in 2018, Inacio won 61.3% of his faceoffs, leading all freshmen in the nation, being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The following season, Inacio led the Big Ten in faceoff percentage and finished ninth nationally with a 63.7% win rate. Additionally, he set Ohio State single game records in faceoff wins (23) and ground balls (19), and finished fifth in the nation in ground balls per game with 10. During the covid shortened 2020 season, Inacio only appeared in four games, though he won 65.5% of his draws, and during a game against Cornell, he won 30 faceoffs, the third most in a single game in NCAA history. His numbers dipped in the 2021 season, only winning at a 55.1% rate, though Inacio bounced back as a fifth year, winning 59.2% of his draws while also scoring a career high 3 goals, being named an honorable mention All-American.[6][3] Inacio graduated as Ohio State's all-time leader in ground balls with 357 and second in faceoff percentage at 60.7%.[7] Inacio graduated with a degree in biology, as well as minoring in business.[4]

Professional career

NLL

Inacio was selected 10th overall in the 2021 NLL Entry Draft by the Calgary Roughnecks, though he opted to return to Ohio State for a fifth season. He was set to join the Roughnecks ahead of the 2022 season, however a knee injury forced him to miss the entire year.[7]

PLL

Inacio was selected 18th overall by Archers Lacrosse Club in the 2022 PLL College Draft. He played eight games as a rookie, along with two playoff games, winning a total of 41.3% of his faceoffs.

Statistics

NCAA

Season Team GP G A Pts GB FOW FOA
2018 Ohio State 14 0 1 1 47 130 212
2019 Ohio State 12 2 1 3 117 181 284
2020 Ohio State 4 1 0 1 29 72 110
2021 Ohio State 10 0 0 0 63 147 267
2022 Ohio State 16 3 1 4 101 200 338
Total 56 6 3 9 357 730 1211

NLL

Justin Inacio Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team GP G A Pts LB PIM Pts/GP LB/GP PIM/GP GP G A Pts LB PIM Pts/GP LB/GP PIM/GP

2024 Calgary Roughnecks 8 0 2 2 40 2 0.25 5.00 0.25 –––––––––
8 0 2 2 40 2 0.25 5.00 0.25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00
Career Total: 8 0 2 2 40 2 0.25 5.00 0.25

GP–Games played; G–Goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; LB–Loose balls; PIM–Penalty minutes; Pts/GP–Points per games played; LB/GP–Loose balls per games played; PIM/GP–Penalty minutes per games played.

PLL

Justin Inacio Regular Season Playoffs
Season Team GP G 2PG A Pts Sh GB Pen PIM FOW FOA GP G 2PG A Pts Sh GB Pen PIM FOW FOA
2022 Archers 8 2 0 0 2 6 33 1 0.5 78 183 2 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 0 15 42
8 2 0 0 2 6 33 1 0.5 78 183 2 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 0 15 42
Career Total: 10 2 0 0 2 7 44 1 0.5 93 225

GP–Games played; G–Goals; 2PG–2-point goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; Sh–Shots; GB–Ground balls; Pen–Penalties; PIM–Penalty minutes; FOW–Faceoffs won; FOA–Faceoffs attempted

References

  1. ^ "Justin Inacio". Premier Lacrosse League. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  2. ^ "Justin Inacio". Roughnecks. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  3. ^ a b c "Justin Inacio". Ohio State Buckeyes. 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  4. ^ a b c "Justin Inacio - Personal Website". justininacio.webflow.io. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  5. ^ "Justin Inacio: The Competitor – LaxWeekly". 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  6. ^ "The Official Website of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association" (PDF). usila.org. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  7. ^ a b "Men's Lacrosse: Inacio returns as graduate assistant coach while recovering from injury, earning master's degree". The Lantern. 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-05-22.


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