Ara Nazarian, PhD

Boston was fortunate to host the Heritage Lacrosse Cup, a showcase of high-level lacrosse and heritage pride. In 2025, Armenia proudly became the 93rd member of World Lacrosse and the 36th member of the European Lacrosse Federation. The Heritage Cup, one of the largest international non World Lacrosse sanctioned events, brought together 112 teams from 36 nations across six divisions, hosting more than 2,000 athletes. Team Armenia made its debut with men’s, women’s, and men’s U19 (under age 19) teams, starting the weekend with a visit to the Armenian Museum of America, a team dinner at the Papken Suni Agoump, and a community event at the Armenian Cultural and Education Center in Watertown on Thursday, May 22, 2025.

Friday onward, everyone put their game faces on and got down to business. The men’s team made quick work of the US Virgin Islands (9-3) and Mexico (9-4), followed by a tough and hard- fought win over our Greek brethren (7-2), routing their rivals, the Netherlands (9-3), culminating in the men’s finals against Ireland, a master class of intensity, team mindset, and absolute dominance, where the Irish never got a chance to build any rhythm, being suffocated in the midfield and not making any headway against Armenia’s formidable defense and goalie corps.
Armenia dominated the face-off game, dictating their presence and offense from early on, backing it throughout the game with superb, physical team play.

The recently formed women’s team, having just met a two days before the tournament, was an absolute delight to watch. They showed strength, poise, cohesion, and a team spirit, well beyond their nascent existence. They won handily against the Dominican Republic (9-3) and beat last year’s reigning champion, China, in a close and hard-fought game (6-5). They lost a very close match against Ireland (7-8), knocking them out of the championship bracket. They lost to the Philippines (8-9) and beat Germany (10-6) in the consolation bracket, ending the tournament with an impressive 3-2 record. Their maiden tournament was a resounding success,
thanks to their amazing teamwork, strong passing game, and superb finishes. In addition to their remarkable cohesion and teamwork, their passion for the sport was contagious on and off the field, winning many new fans to the game, including the students from Saint Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Watertown.

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With the need to move the games along, any tie game went into a braveheart, meaning each team fielded a goalie and a field player to decide the fate of the game based on who scored first. These were absolutely grueling and physical games, where Team Armenia could have easily come out with a 4-1 record and played for placement. Nonetheless, this was an amazing tournament for the players who had only met this weekend
and held a single team practice. They demonstrated heart, mental toughness, and dedication in hard-fought games throughout the Memorial Day weekend tournament.

The teams are fortunate to be guided by an amazing and dedicated group of coaches and managers, implementing a vision set forth by Johnny Mouradian, Father Shnork Souin, and Mher Saribekyan. Johnny Mouradian, a legendary figure in the sport, is the co-founder and primary architect of Armenia Lacrosse.

A veteran of both field and box lacrosse, Johnny has won nine professional world championships and has served as general manager (GM), coach, and player at the sport’s highest levels, including as GM of Team Canada’s national programs. His leadership and connections have been crucial to launching and sustaining Armenia’s lacrosse presence. Fr. Shnork Souin, a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church and co-founder of the program, believes in the spiritual and cultural bridge between lacrosse—often called the “Creator’s Game”—and Armenia, known as the “Land of the Creator.” Mher Saribekyan, the Federation’s technical coordinator, acts as a vital bridge between operations in Armenia and the diaspora.

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The U19 and Men’s teams were led by a talented and experienced coaching staff. Jimmer Harabedian, Tyler Hall and Yevgeniy Gevorkyan coached both teams a total of ten games during the tournament with Team Manager and Equipment Manager Nikolai Gevorkyan at all ten games as well. On the women’s side, the team is led by a dynamic trio: Morgan Radner, head coach of the Armenia women’s Sixes team, who brings high-level coaching expertise and a passion for mentoring athletes; Isabel Kubikian, a graduate of King’s College London and a DI player at Siena College a strong vision for growing the women’s game, serves as assistant coach; and Laura Dilimetin, the team’s manager, is a seasoned coach and player from Manhasset, New York, who brings decades of organizational and on-field leadership. Together, they form a powerhouse team, guiding Armenia’s women’s lacrosse to new heights on the global stage.