Justin Inacio

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]

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]