In only three years at Florida Gulf Coast University, Brittany Brown has left her mark on the women’s soccer team. She has a 39-9-7 record as the goalie during her run at FGCU. Thirty-seven of those outings were starts for Brown.
Raised in Rochester, New York, she remembers seeing players such as fellow Rochester native Abby Wambach play for the United States national team.
Her number, 33, is very special to her and her family.
“My dad is from Boston. He’s a huge Larry Bird fan, so he was always number 33. My brothers were also 33, so I figured I’d have 33 and carry the tradition,” Brown said.
Her dad was also instrumental in her decision to come to FGCU. He was able to visit FGCU because he has a place down in Florida during the winter.
“I came to visit him, and we came to the school to talk to Jim [Blankenship]. It kind of all fell into place from there,” Brown said.
Before arriving at FGCU, Brown was a terrific soccer and basketball player at Greece Athena High School in Rochester, New York. According to FGCU Athletics, Brown was a five-year varsity player, four-year starter and three-time captain. She also received one All-County honorable mention, one second-team selection, a pair of first team honors and was also named to third and fifth team All-State in both her junior and senior year.
She also played and started on the varsity basketball team. She helped her team reached the State finals three out of her four years in high school.
During her freshman year at FGCU, she was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team and was named Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Week three times during the season. She also had nine shutouts and made 19 straight starts at one point during first year with the Eagles.
As a sophomore, she was the 2013 Atlantic Sun Goalkeeper of the Year and was one the 2013 A-Sun All-Conference First Team. She also led the conference with 0.82 goals against average and seven shutouts.
This season, Brown has a 12-3 record with 0.71 goals against average. She also has made 55 saves.
Her favorite moment playing for FGCU was when she was the winning goalie when FGCU defeated Mercer 1-0 to win the 2012 Atlantic Sun Tournament at FGCU. In the final, Ally Kasun scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Eagles the win and the conference title over Mercer.
She said that her role model is United States national team goalie Tim Howard. She looks up to him as a fellow goalkeeper.
She said that she loves to be around everyone on the team including the coaches. She also likes the fact that you get so close to the girls on the squad and the coaches. They become one big family and a support system towards each other.
“I mean, we are all so unique that is really does not matter who you will be around; we each have our own aspect we bring to the team,” Brown said.
Brown also is a terrific person on and off the soccer field. She will be graduating with a degree in biology from FGCU after switching her major from exercise science to biology. She is also a member of the National Honor Society. She hopes to become a physical therapist.
Brown says that she hopes to continue her career in soccer after her playing days are over at FGCU.
In only three years at FGCU, Brown has established herself as one of the best soccer players to ever play for the Eagles. She has the chance to lead the Eagles all-time in saves, wins, save percentage and saves per game. Brown already leads in both goals against average and saves per game.