CARY - Players from both the Carolina RailHawks and the Atlanta Silverbacks looked at referee Sorin Stoica with anger as he blew his whistle.

They wanted to keep playing soccer, no matter the weather. Nights like Saturday though made it impossible.

At 9:59 p.m., the match entered its third weather delay due to lightning at WakeMed Soccer Park. By 10:23 p.m., the two teams, along with officials of the North American Soccer League, agreed to abandon the match, which gave the RailHawks a 1-0 victory after 50 minutes of play.

"I've never really been involved in a game like this before," RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said. "It was disappointing even in the fact that it was just a lot of stopping and starting because we couldn't get a rhythm in the game."

It was the first match to be abandoned by the NASL this season.

As it turned out, the RailHawks (14-2-2) won by relying on a characteristic that has helped them all season. By being aggressive from the start of the match, the RailHawks were able to produce scoring chances before the first lightning bolt hit the area.

In the eighth minute, forward Nick Zimmerman made a sharp pass to teammate Etienne Barbara on the far side of the field. Barbara, a forward, dribbled between - and past - two Silverbacks and scored on a right-footed shot against Atlanta (3-12-3).

"We knew it was important to be winning after halftime with the way the weather was going," Rennie said. "This was a mental battle we had to win. We managed to do that, and on a night like tonight, having somebody who can put the ball in the net is key because when you're doing it in a short burst it's much harder."

The goal by Barbara, a forward, was his 16th of the season - a statistic he leads the NASL now by eight goals.

But the RailHawks' success continues to go much deeper than Barbara's ability to score.

The team was dominant throughout the match in controlling the midfield and possession of the ball. And after former captain Brad Rusin and reserve goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell were transferred overseas to larger clubs, the RailHawks - who have already clinched a playoff spot - continue to lead the league in fewest goals allowed.

"I felt like we were playing quite well before the first break came," said Rennie, as the first delay came in the 21st minute. "We looked good going forward and fairly solid defensively."

In the eight minutes played between the first two delays, both teams had opportunities to score.

Forward Pablo Campos placed a cross into the Atlanta penalty box, but the ball was never controlled by a RailHawk. A few minutes later, goalkeeper Brad Knighton made an impressive save on a header from Atlanta forward Matt Horth that was generated off a corner by the Silverbacks.

"He made a great save," Rennie said of Knighton. "I felt we could have defended it better, but overall we didn't let them create too much given how our back four has changed recently."