TOWSON, Md. – Two practice jerseys, two scouting reports, two film sessions, two coaches to meet with.
 
When you're a member of the Towson University men's lacrosse team scouting group, it's two of everything every week.
 
It's not often light gets shed on the guys who operate behind the scenes and push the big names you see every game to get better. But there is a second team within the roster and that group practices under the name of Car Ramrod, a nod to the cult classic movie Super Troopers.
 
Each week, the members of Car Ramrod meet with volunteer assistant coach Andy Shilling to get their assignments. Their duties? Learn the offense that week's opponent will likely run, and tailor their own game to fit how a particular opponent plays; does he switch hands on dodges? does he bull dodge with his right hand only? Does he shoot from anywhere on field?
 
This fine-tuning is crucial for Towson's starters, particularly on defense, to get prepared for their next opponent. Car Ramrod goes live against the Tigers' starting defense every day in practice.
 
"I read the scouting report on the board," said Luke Fromert, a redshirt freshman transfer from Mercer University. "He (Shilling) chooses a player you most play like. Most of the time it's what hand you're supposed to use. Most of the time, my guys are both righty and lefty, or just all righty. I pretty much model myself after them, watch film on them and try and do what they do; shoot goal line extended, question mark dodges. Just try and model what he does exactly."
 
One of the toughest parts about signing on to be a part of Car Ramrod is checking one's ego at the door. It's for the betterment of the team. And those guys on the scout team understand their role and how important it is to the Tigers' success over the years.
 
Life on the scout team isn't a detriment to one's career. More often than not, it's beneficial to a student-athlete's career.
 
One example of that is sophomore two-way midfielder Jake McLean, who was a scout teamer as a rookie, but has since blossomed into a starter midway through his sophomore campaign. The Encinitas, Californian has four goals through last weekend's 17-9 win over Drexel, while adding nine ground balls. McLean runs the faceoff wings as well as time on the defensive end and out in transition.
 
"Everyone on our team is going to be the most competitive kid, where they came from," said McLean. "It's frustrating at first. The skills you learn just from mocking other players, learning to change your game up, even if it's not the way you play, learning to play like other players, gives you that much greater of a skill set."
 
It's not just six-on-six offenses either. The scout team is responsible for learning opponents' extra-man offenses as well, in addition to knowing the Tigers' complete offensive package and any tweaks or plays offensive coordinator Anthony Gilardi may add during the week.
 
"It's definitely not easy," Drew Laundry noted of learning multiple offenses. "I just try and be the best teammate and take everything in. Coach G (Gilardi) gets a little stressful in what he's implementing, but Coach Shlling usually stresses it down for me, makes it a little easier. I'm a little freer. Shilling gives you that confidence when you're down there."
 
Car Ramrod and the Tiger defense have been clicking well lately. After a slow start early in the season, perhaps on a lack of scouting film, opponents reached double digit goals in the first four games, very uncharacteristic for Towson. But the Tigers have limited opponents to single digits in four of the last six games, and those two outliers were games of 10 and 11.
 
In fact, in each Sunday statistical ranking on NCAA.com since Feb. 11, following a 14-6 loss at No. 11 Johns Hopkins, Towson's scoring defense has improved each week. The Tigers started allowing 14.00 goals per game, but now allow 10.20. The average only ticked up once, and that just seven hundredths of a point, following an 11-10 overtime loss at No. 5 Denver.
 
"I think it benefits the defense tremendously," said Laundry, who gets another chance to play near his hometown of Billerica, Massachusetts this Saturday at UMass. "Coach Shilling and the coaching staff puts so much time into the scouting report, what the other team does, what the extra-man does, all the situationals. The defense is ready to go by game day. We've repped it every day in practice and I think it helps the defense a lot."
 
Some of the Tigers' top names over the last several years have spent time on the scout team, guys like Mike Lynch and Brian Bolewicki, which led to starting spots and helping the Tigers reach Championship Weekend a year ago.
 
"Last year, we always joked around that we were the best scout team in the country," said McLean. "We were going against one of the best defensive teams in the country. If you play with better people, you're going to get better."
 
To a man, each member of Car Ramrod accredits Andy Shilling with improvement on the scout team and in their personal games as well. It starts with buying in and knowing that's your role with one of the best Division I programs in the country.
 
"Shilling does a great job holding everyone accountable," said Laundry. "We want to be great teammates and give the defense the best look possible so that we're successful in games. Even if you're on the scout team and you're not performing well, Shilling will get on you because your play matters as much as everyone else's to get the defense ready."
 
And the buying in is key. Without fully accepting your role within the program, the team doesn't have a chance to improve and everything that the Tigers have built over the last six years under head coach Shawn Nadelen crumbles.
 
"You could be like 'screw this, I'm just going to try and score and do what I do', but in the back of your head you're like 'no, I have to do exactly what the defense needs to be ready for," finished Fromert.
"If my guy stays in his right hand and shoots a certain way, that's what's in my head."
 
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