Ara Nazarian Commits to UNH

UNH's Newest Recruit Ara Nazarian (Photo: Jon Chase/Boston Globe)

5'10", 170 lbs centerman Ara Nazarian (DOB: 6/19/1996) has committed to play for the University of New Hampshire. Nazarian, a resident of Boxford, Massachusetts, recently completed his sophomore season at Malden Catholic and lead the Lancers to their third straight Super 8 Massachusetts High School Championship. Nazarian was Malden Catholic's leading scorer during the regular season posting 26 goals and 22 assists.

In the 5 games of Malden Catholic's Super 8 run, Nazarian scored 9 goals, including 4 short-handed goals, and added 5 assists. ESPNBoston.com selected Nazarian as the Mr. Hockey Award winner. He is the first underclassmen to win the award. Former recipients have included Brendan Collier (Malden Catholic/Valley Jr. Warriors/Boston University commit) and Colin Blackwell (St. John's Prep/Harvard).

Last spring, Ara Nazarian was selected by the Des Moines Buccaneers in the 6th round of the USHL Futures Draft. Fellow UNH Recruit Patrick Grasso (DOB: 5/29/1996) has played 13 games with Des Moines this season as an affiliate player, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists. During the 2010-11 season, Nazarian played for the Valley Jr. Warriors in the Empire Junior Hockey League. He was the Jr. Warrior's second leading scorer posting 30 goals and 20 assists in 34 games. Here's an article on his year with the Empire Jr. Warriors. Look for more details on Nazarian's future plans on The UNH Men's Hockey Blog.