Kyle A. Bedini ’09 was one of only two All-America selections through the first 59 seasons of the men’s soccer program.
A Manchester native, Bedini was a four-year player between 2005 and 2008, and a three-year starter on defense who played on the program’s first-ever Little East Conference playoff championship team as a junior. As a senior, he earned second-team NSCAA All-America and first-team all-region accolades, repeated as a first-team all-conference selection, was named to the NEISL All-Star Game and as the department’s Male Athlete-of-the-Year.
Bedini moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore after being limited to eight matches off the bench as a freshman due to injury. In 2007, he led his team to the LEC regular-season title and to its first LEC tournament championship and first NCAA tournament appearance.
After playing all 110 minutes in the scoreless 2007 LEC title match against Keene State College at Thomas Nevers Field, Bedini converted Eastern’s first penalty kick in the second round of PKs to pull his team even, and the Warriors went on to advance, 3-2, and qualify for their first NCAA tournament.
“Kyle’s work ethic was awesome,” remembers Jay Barney, who was Bedini’s Eastern teammate for three years before serving as assistant coach during Bedini’s senior season. “The biggest change physically was from his freshmen year to his sophomore year. He had gotten a taste of what college soccer is and he understood that he could excel at this level. He could be a great player -- he saw that potential in himself -- so he put in the work to achieve everything that he did in his career. Everything he did off the field transitioned on the field,” Barney added.
The first men’s soccer player from the 21st century to earn Alumni Hall of Fame induction, Bedini was a starter in all but one match in which he appeared over his final three seasons, helping limit opponents to an average of less than one goal per match. In 45 of those 61 matches – nearly 75 percent of the time-- the opponent was limited to one or no goals.
For his part, Bedini credits his coach of four years at Eastern – current head coach Greg DeVito, who was the assistant to head coach Frantz Innocent in 2005 and 2006 before taking over as head coach in Bedini’s junior season – for much of his success. “Coach DeVito taught me how important preparation was when it came time for competition,” Bedini says. “Skill, talent and hard work went a long way, but the team which is better prepared often ends up with the result. He was demanding,” notes Bedini of DeVito, “but we were extremely lucky to have him.”
In addition to stellar defense, Bedini contributed ten assists and six goals (two of them game-winners) in his 65-game career.
As a junior in the fall of 2007, Bedini started all 19 matches in which he appeared, averaging a career-high 87 minutes. Under first-year head coach DeVito that season, Eastern won its first Little East regular-season crown in 15 years and proceeded to claim its first LEC playoff title.
As a senior co-captain in 2008 on a team coming off its first NCAA tournament berth, Bedini started 21 games as the Warriors assembled a 14-game unbeaten streak on the way to their winningest season in 39 years. The top seed in the ECAC tournament in 2008, Eastern won its first two games by a combined 11-0 margin in reaching the tournament final. Kyle’s stellar four-year career was rewarded – exactly one month to the day of his final game in an Eastern uniform – upon the announcement of his selection to the All-America team.
“Kyle was someone who I never needed to worry about as I transitioned to be a coach,” added Barney, an all-conference goalkeeper. “He wasn’t someone I’d have to sit down and explain things to because he just understood the game better than most people.”
Bedini holds a B.S. Degree in Business Administration and is currently employed as a director of international business intelligence and & analytics at Travelers Insurance Co. in Hartford. He resides in South Windsor and is engaged to Marissa Troiano of South Windsor. A September, 2020 wedding is planned.
