Women's Lacrosse

‘Paige’s Pack’ follows in the footsteps of the Monmouth bench

Hannah Wagner | Staff Photographer

"Paige's Pack" has brought choreographed celebrations to Syracuse's sidelines this season.

Gary Gait suggested a funeral.

All season long a group of seven redshirt players had embraced their roles on their bench and taken it upon themselves to create entertaining goal celebrations for their teammates.  There’d been pantomimes of volleyball, a catwalk and one occasion when one player spotted her teammate pretending to struggle bench-pressing her lacrosse stick.

Syracuse’s head coach, his players remembered, shared a bunch of ideas. He wanted them to act out a grieving procession at the end of a game when the Orange held a sizeable lead with little time left. He introduced the idea of props, bringing a blanket and book to tuck a player in or mats for their yoga routine. None of the suggestions have happened yet, but the players aren’t ruling it out.

It started when the redshirts, who rarely remove their warm-ups during games, were celebrating one of their team’s 26 goals on opening weekend. Freshmen Jackie Hingre and Mary Rahal ran up and down the sideline giving, as many teams do, simple high-fives. That’s when redshirt sophomore Paige Rogers turned to her teammates.

“I feel like some teams might get in trouble if they were doing it,” Rogers said two weeks later. “But I think we make it fun for the team and bring the energy up.”



The bench has grown, evolving from a “Paige’s Pack” GroupMe to over 50 choreographed routines, even receiving props from the nationally known Monmouth men’s basketball bench. They need all the ideas they can get as No. 3 Syracuse (6-1) has scored the most goals nationwide this season with 98.

“Our bench takes (supporting the team) pretty seriously,” Gait said. “That crew … shows that they’re into the game and they’re willing to produce, memorize them for the players on the field. They appreciate what they do.”

The Pack carves out practice time, the GroupMe’s main function, usually 30 to 40 minutes before a game. Rogers, who’s developed into the director, helps rehearse the lineup, written in black Sharpie on a Gatorade cup torn and smoothed into a makeshift scroll.

Pack member Cara Quimby’s favorite is the yoga routine which ends with the popular dance move “the dab.” The freshman midfielder said the bench stars the celebrations their teammates like and scribbles out the ones they don’t.

“(After goals) we touch sticks then I’m right to Paige’s Pack to see what they’re about to do,” senior Mallory Vehar said. “… I love it. It’s hilarious and it gets everyone on and off the field excited.”

Vehar didn’t play much in a blowout win over Marist on Feb. 21, instead making a guest appearance with Paige’s Pack. She tapped one teammate pretending to be a domino and sent all seven players to the ground.

Syracuse’s sideline followed the Monmouth basketball bench in turning joyous reaction into orchestrated artistry after the Hawks Sistine Chapel-ed their way into the national spotlight. Their moves — LeBron James impersonations, using teammates legs as scissors and pretending to aggressively eat cereal — brought Monmouth’s Twitter account more than 16,000 followers, four times as many as the basketball team’s account.

When a reporter covering Syracuse’s third game tweeted that the Monmouth bench had competition, Monmouth responded “We see you ladies!!!” But for now, Monmouth is only a goal. SU’s bench Twitter has 72 followers.

We don’t want to take any of their ideas. We want to do our own thing, but we definitely would think about collab-ing with them. That’d be sick.
Paige Rogers

Despite Gait’s support, he said he hasn’t seen many celebrations this season because he’s focused on his next substitutions. Against Florida, after a Nicole Levy goal gave Syracuse a brief lead which it lost minutes later, Gait pumped his fist and turned back up the sideline. He nearly tripped over two redshirt players on their knees, vigorously arm wrestling. He paused, nodded, took two steps to the right and continued.

The day also included celebrations of curling, canoeing and, Rogers’ favorite, the bench press. For seven players on the sideline this season, it’s their contribution.

“It’s trial and error,” Rogers said. “We’ll keep making ‘em better.”





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