First Baptist’s girls soccer team couldn’t play its last regular season home match on its home field Friday afternoon, but the Lady Crusaders rolled to a 3-0 win over Gateway anyway.

The reason First Baptist couldn’t play at its home field, a field behind Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church, goes back to late Monday night or predawn Tuesday morning.

George Martin, a coach for the Lady Crusaders, went out to line the field before school on Tuesday.

“I opened the door of my truck and said ‘where are my goals?’ At first, I thought it was some type of joke,” Martin said.

Instead, the goals had been stolen. The goals, which First Baptist purchased a couple seasons ago, are worth a combined $2,500.

“I saw nuts, bolts and bungee cords lying around out there. We checked with the church just to make sure, then we called the police,” Martin said.

“It’s just a sad thing. We’re not a rich school,” Martin said.

Making the matter stranger, Martin thinks it had to be a fairly well-coordinated effort.

For one, “it took us four men to tilt and take apart the goals when we did it,” Martin said.

Secondly, from ruts in the field and where the tools and equipment were left, it seems one goal near the gravel road was moved to midfield before it was taken apart and taken away.

“I guess they did that so they couldn’t be seen from the road while they dismantled it there,” Martin said.

As for Friday’s match, First Baptist and Gateway played at Suffolk Youth Athletic Association.

“SYAA’s been great to us. They said, just play out here for the rest of the season,” said First Baptist athletic director Joe Cockrell.

First Baptist outshot Gateway 13-0 in the opening half, but it took most of the half for the Lady Crusaders to gain the lead.

The first goal was set up with good passing through midfield. Zoe Waddell passed to Caelyn Andrews who passed behind the Gateway defenders for Anna Carr running into the Gateway box. Carr sharply booted a right-footed shot, from about 12 yards out, for the goal, putting FB ahead in the 33rd minute.

In terms of possession and shots, Gateway turned the second half into a closer contest. The Lady Crusaders did a better job of finishing its offensive chances, scoring in the 48th and 65th minutes.

Quick passing was the key again for the second goal. Anna Carr booted the ball up the right wing for Peyton Brown. Brown dribbled past a defender and sent a low cross through the penalty box. Victoria Carr, Anna’s older sister, put a hard shot just inside the base of the right post.

Brown took care of the shot and the goal on her own later in the half. Brown finished off a 30-yard run on the dribble by burying a low, driving shot from the left side of the Gateway box.

“We had three different players score, so that’s good. Basically for the whole season, we haven’t relied on one or two players to score all the goals,” Martin said.

“We have a lot of young players and I’m tickled with the way they’re playing now,” Martin said.

First Baptist has one more road game to finish up the regular season and the Lady Crusaders will play in a postseason tournament May 11-13.