Lara Kazandjian

Lara Kazandjian was born in Pointe-Claire, Québec, and began her soccer with Lakeshore SC. With Lakeshore, she collected national youth medals: gold at the U16 and U17 Canadian Championships (2016–17), and silver in 2018 and 2019. Her development was further shaped at Ontario’s Super REX program and in the Canadian National Training Centre, where she rubbed shoulders with the country’s top prospects. Those years opened doors to Canada’s youth national teams, where she represented the Maple Leaf at the 2016 CONCACAF U-15 Championship (silver), the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (finishing fourth), and the 2020 CONCACAF U-20 tournament.

Lara’s collegiate career began at the University of Memphis in 2020, but she soon found a home at Creighton University. Over three seasons with the Bluejays, she became a central figure: 51 appearances, 5 goals, 4 assists, and three game-winners. In 2022, she earned First-Team All-BIG EAST honours and was recognized as an Academic All-District selection twice.

In 2023, Lara played for Calgary Foothills WFC in the United Women’s Soccer League, alongside other notable players Sarah Dilling, Grace Stordy, Isabel Monck, and Mya Jones.

Her international journey then took an unexpected but meaningful turn. Eligible for Armenia through heritage, she accepted a call-up to the Armenia Women’s National Team in 2024. Just months later, in February 2025, she produced a career-defining moment: scoring a hat trick in a 6–1 win in the UEFA Women’s Nations League C. Armenian media celebrated it as history for the women’s program, and Lara herself admitted in an interview that she felt she was “making history for Armenian women’s football.”

That same winter, her childhood dream became reality. On January 31, 2025, Lara signed her first professional contract with RC Lens Féminin in France. In her own words:

The move came just as Lens secured promotion to the French top flight, giving Lara Kazandjian a platform to test herself against some of the world’s best.