Her notes are meticulously highlighted and in pristine order. Her clothes are folded and tucked away neatly into the closet. Her room must pass the approval of two ever-keen eyes.

Courtney Brosnan isn’t afraid to admit it. She’s a neat freak.

“My roommates kind of make fun of me when I say I have a messy room and there’s one shirt on the floor or something like that,” she said with a smile. “I guess I’ve always been kind of neat.”

The habit has become a staple of her preparation and a driving characteristic of her play on the field. It’s a testament to the minutia of being a goalkeeper, where one small oversight can completely change a game.

By paying attention to the specifics, Brosnan, a sophomore, has quickly established herself as one of the premier goalkeepers in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Last season, she finished with 68 saves even after missing Syracuse’s (2-2) first eight games with a subluxed right kneecap.

“In the goalie position, that one small detail can be the difference between (the ball) going in the back of the net and not going,” Brosnan said. “Those little things are everything that I work on every day. Just fixing one little thing to help my game.”

While goalkeepers have the unique privilege of picking up the ball, Brosnan takes equal pride in being versatile on her feet. Her sound footwork and aptness to precisely cut angles when passing the ball have been fine-tuned over the years while playing at the Player’s Development Academy in New Jersey.

There, Mike O’Neill, the girls’ director of coaching, brought Brosnan under his tutelage and emphasized the importance of having skilled feet.

“It’s no longer just an ability of catching balls,” he said, “but you have to be able to good with your feet to help people and help your team to maintain possession.”

O’Neill has witnessed Brosnan’s ability to make saves in high-pressure situations since he met her when she was 16.

It’s the saves in the most critical moments of the game on shots that most people expect to go in, O”Neill said, that separates Brosnan.

“And that difference is special,” O’Neill said.

At a club that has seen the likes of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Tobin Heath and Heather O’Reilly, O’Neill said that Brosnan will go down as one of the best goalkeepers in PDA’s 15-year history.

Syracuse head coach Phil Wheddon has ample experience coaching goalkeepers, having served as a goalkeepers coach for both the Men’s and Women’s U.S. National Teams.

And after coaching Brittany Anghel, the program’s all-time leader in wins (28) and shutouts (21), from 2010-13, Wheddon has been impressed with how Brosnan filled the void in her first year-plus.

“I think she’s very detailed in what she does,” Wheddon said. “She has the ability to take feedback and apply it quickly. She’s a student of the game.”

If Brosnan lets in a goal on the near post, she can be seen screaming on the field. She’ll feverishly watch film to see what went wrong and how she can fix it.

Her precision has helped her stand out despite getting a late start last season. She now dons a bulky knee brace and no longer takes her own goal kicks, one of the subtle adjustments she’s made.

While Brosnan couldn’t play, she instead turned her focus to improving her communication. She conversed with her defense and noted the acute details to ensure the two sides were on the same page for when she returned. It was a plan that helped make her transition back more seamless.

“It’s tough being on the sidelines,” Brosnan said of sitting out. “You always want to be in there … but it kind of gives you a different perspective and makes you realize there are other things you can do off the field that can really affect your team.”

On Friday night while warming up for Syracuse’s home opener against St. John’s, Brosnan again flashed her versatile feet. Except this time, she wasn’t fielding passes or polishing her angles. She was dancing.

Brosnan said it’s a way to establish an energetic atmosphere before the game. It’s thought out and systematic, just another detail that doesn’t get overlooked.

“She’s got a standard and she holds herself to it,” assistant coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. “It’s just a reminder that she has a certain level that she expects of herself and if she ever falls short of that, she holds herself accountable.”

And just as she does with her room, Brosnan is always looking for facets of her own game to tidy up. She’s wary of keeping her shoulders forward in the net and tries to be systematic and efficient when fielding a ball by eliminating unnecessary hand movements.

“I’m trying to raise my game to the next level,” Brosnan said, “and obviously it’s those little things that can give me the edge.”

Published on September 1, 2015 at 10:59 pm

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu