Propagation characteristics of earthward streaming protons in the plasmasheet boundary layer are investigated in a model magnetosphere from the analysis of single particle trajectories. The phase space of initial proton distributions within the plasmasheet boundary layer out to 40 Earth radii (Re) can be separated into four major components. In a region outside the loss cone, protons with pitch angles less than about 2.6¿ can make it to the auroral zone at S3-3 altitudes and below. Protons at all other pitch angles, with speeds greater than about 1100 km/s, reflect (or mirror) at high latitudes near the Earth and return tailward, often convecting toward the inner plasmasheet. Protons with velocities as high as 800 km/s, regardless of pitch angle, are found to mirror such that they are ''trapped'' in the ring current region of the magnetosphere. These results are dependent on the magnitude and direction of the convection electric field, such that during geomagnetic storms with higher convection electric fields, higher energies of the plasmasheet boundary layer protons would be expected to reach the low-latitude portions of the ring current.