Hall of Fame
Kyle J. Savage was a four-year All-Little East Conference men’s lacrosse selection who started all possible 70 matches in goal and backstopped the Warriors to two NCAA tournament appearances between 2006 and 2009.
Savage becomes the eighth member of the men’s lacrosse program (seventh player) to gain induction but the first goalie to be enshrined, earning the honor on the basis of a record-setting career in which he never missed a match, starting all 70 and leading the Warriors to three Little East regular-season and two LEC playoff titles, two NCAA tournament appearances – including the program’s only NCAA victory – and an overall record of 45-25 (24-1 in 25 LEC regular-season contests).
A two-time team captain, the Southington native was a four-time All-Little East Conference selection, earning first-team honors as a senior in 2009 when the Warriors won the LEC regular-season title in unbeaten fashion for the third time in four years and went on to their second LEC tournament title in four years with a 12-8 home win over Keene State College. Four days after that championship game, Savage made 15 saves to backstop Eastern to its first NCAA tournament win -- a 10-9 overtime road victory over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy – the team’s ninth straight win (the longest in Savage’s career). In a match where one team led by as many as two goals only once, Savage’s twin brother, Matthew, forced overtime with his third goal of the match with 34 seconds left in regulation, and All-America DJ Simmons clinched it with a game-winning goal in overtime.
Savage’s final career match proved to be one of his finest. In an 8-4 loss at heavily-favored Wesleyan University in a second-round NCAA tournament game, Savage stopped 16 shots, keeping the Warriors tied through three quarters before the Cardinals eventual scored four unanswered goals and held Eastern scoreless in the final quarter to advance.
In that senior season, Savage set season records that stand today for appearances (19), starts (19), wins (15), and minutes (1,021) and his save total of 219 was six shy of his career-high in his sophomore season and remains the third-highest total in a season in program history. That year, his save percentage of .612 ranked 12th nationally in Division III.
Savage played all but 300 of a possible 4,200 minutes in his career and 14 years after leaving the program still ranks first all-time in appearances, starts, minutes (3,923), wins (45) and saves (829) He currently ranks fifth all-time in both career save percentage (.577) and goals-against average (9.28). .
Savage earned his B.S. Degree in Business from Eastern and is a senior sourcing manager at Stanley Black & Decker and co-founded Savage TeamWear, LLC in 2017. Kyle and Kelly (Freer ’09) Savage reside in Southington with their three young children.
