With back-to-back wins across the Weber County line, the Bees kicked off their latest road stretch by dethroning the Silverwolves 2-1 with one of the more stout, defensively strong performances Box Elder goalkeeper Ryder Cooper has seen from his team 11 matches into the regular season.

Save for a Cam Graves goal with 25 seconds to go, the Bees (7-4, 5-1 Region 5) looked to have a shutout in hand. Senior Benton Leftfren, assisted by midfielder Cesar Ventura, put the Bees up 2-nil shortly after the break.

Shutout or no shutout, Cooper saluted Box Elder’s defense for stepping up on the road in the first of two all-too-important matches against Fremont this season. The Silverwolves (6-5, 5-1) will travel to Brigham City on Thursday, April 30, in hopes of evening the series.

“In the past, our goals (allowed) have been off little mistakes, like bad bounces or not winning it out of the air,” Cooper said. “I think they really showed up today and proved that they want to be here and deserve to be on the field with me and everyone else as a team.”

Fremont allotted its opponent two goals for just the third time this season, as Darren Erwin’s squad struggled to assert themselves in the opening half.

An early yellow card drawn by Graves saw the Silverwolves go down early on a Sora Sato penalty kick with 20:15 still to play in the first half.

Fremont senior goalkeeper Ace Bertagnolli kept the Bees off the scoreboard for the next 30 minutes of the match, but without much success up top, the dam broke a second time when Box Elder’s second goal arrived.

“They won more of the 50-50 balls and then picked up those second balls after,” Erwin said of Box Elder. “They had a lot more heart than we did today, but we get them again, and it kind of puts a dent in that title chase. Now, it tightens up, but we’ve got games to play still.

“They deserve all the credit. They definitely outplayed us and finished the chances they had.”

Speaking of that region race, it’s far from being anyone’s just yet.

Box Elder and Fremont are now tied for first entering the weekend, and Northridge, defeating Bonneville 3-2 on the road on Thursday, is one game out of first place with four weeks still to go in the regular season.

The Bees round out their latest road stretch at Bonneville on Tuesday, April 14, and at Roy High on Thursday, April 16. It’s two more chances to cash in region victories before closing the schedule at Northridge, at home against Fremont, and ending the season at West Field.

“We have a lot of games to look forward to,” Cooper said. “We’ve gotta beat Northridge, we’ve gotta beat (Fremont) again. We’ve gotta show up for the rest of our games and win out.”

Likewise, Fremont is chasing its first region title since 2007 and the first of Erwin’s now four seasons in Plain City.

The Silverwolves host Clearfield next Tuesday and travel to Northridge on Thursday. Four of Fremont’s final seven dates fall on the road, including 6A Syracuse (April 21) and West Field (April 28).

Achieving history, Erwin said, begins with not fracturing as a unit.

“We just gotta keep our heads together,” Erwin said. “Obviously, we knew there were going to be tough games in the region, and nothing’s easy.”

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.