FUQUAY-VARINA - With about 20 minutes to go in a battle between two Tri-Nine Conference foes, the most powerful player in high school soccer stepped onto the field once again to settle the score.

That would be Mother Nature.

With severe lightning threatening the area for the second time on the night, the match between visiting Apex and Fuquay-Varina was halted with 20 minutes to play. Apex picked up a 3-2 Tri-Nine Conference win, moving the Cougars (7-3 overall) to 5-1 in league play.

The Cougars have had to deal with the elements before and will play at Panther Creek Thursday to make up a previously postponed game.

"Postponements are always hard because you have more games that week that you have to deal with," said Apex coach Kevin Todd. "It changes your whole schedule."

Apex entered halftime with a 3-1 lead thanks to three consecutive goals. Fuquay-Varina was forced to change goalkeepers within the game's first 10 minutes after senior Zach Sherman hurt his ribs after laying out for a save.

The Bengals quickly found the scoreboard as Adrian Gonzales put in his Triangle-leading 23rd goal of the year off an assisted through ball from Luis Zacarias.

But the Cougars soon re-established possession, and began to pepper the new Bengals goalkeeper Adam Lawrence.

Apex's Matt Bailey scored the equalizer after receiving a long assist from Anthony Miracola. A few minutes later, the Cougars took their first lead on a Nicholas Bertaux goal with the assist to Alex Herbst.

Apex's third tally came from long distance, as Davis Robinson's free kick from midfield ended up in the back of the net as Lawrence mistimed his jump.

"We were fortunate," Todd said. "We had two really good goals and Davis' goal was one of those that helped us out tremendously."

With the dark clouds rolling in, the Bengals wasted no time in the second half in getting back a goal.

Gonzales was taken down in the box and a penalty kick was given to Fuquay mere seconds into the period. Andrew Sotak converted the penalty and cut the deficit to 3-2.

But the match was halted when an official spotted a lightning strike in the area. The teams resumed play a little more than 30 minutes later, but only three minutes of play went by before lightning appeared again. More than enough time had passed in the game to make it official if it could not be made up.

Fuquay (7-4-1, 4-4) became the first Tri-Nine team to hit the halfway point in the conference schedule.

"We started the second half with a lot of intensity, scored first and you could see the momentum shifting," said Fuquay coach James Mountford said. "We knew in our mind if we finished it out, we would win. Maybe we wouldn't -- Apex's Kevin Todd has a great team. But mentally we knew we would win tonight if we had a chance to get back out on the field."