by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

In the game of soccer, there is no celebrating a victory until the referee blows the final whistle. Twelve-year-old Claremont resident Audrey Bauer, a defender with the Norco girls 2012 Legends Football Club, is thankful to know that sensation well.

“Everyone from the bench ran onto the field, and then everyone on the field ran to the bench, and everyone just jumped around,” Audrey said. She was describing the scene at West Creek Complex in Richmond, Virginia on July 15 following what may have been the biggest win of their young careers: a 2-0 victory over the previously undefeated Lonestar Soccer Club of Austin, making the 2012 Norco Legends the Elite Clubs National League Regional League Finals champs.

The 2012 Legends Football Club after winning the Elite Clubs National League Regional League finals in Richmond, Virginia on July 15. Photo/courtesy of Kelly Bauer

The result was a dream ending for Audrey, who was in her first season with the Norco Legends. She joined the team in late September, when the season was already underway. She said she didn’t mind her competition had an additional year of playing experience on her.

“I got used to them being bigger,” she said. “They’re usually taller, but I haven’t played my own age group in a long time, so I kind of forgot like if they’re really better.”

The Legends finished the regular season with a record of 13-2-1, enough for second place in the ECNL Regional League Girls Southwest division. A recap of the season is at theecnl.com. The team includes Audrey, Delilah Andrade, Makayla Argueta, Mia Balderas, Gracie Cabrera, Eloise Chavez, Bella Cuadros-Sandoval, Jiselle Ferrusquilla, Morgan Gernon, Ulisa Gonzalez-Salgado, Victoria Malvarez, Camerina Miranda, Arianna Monarez, Anabel Quesada, Ava Rascon, Savannah Shanklin, Meah Torres, Amaya Varian, Julie Velasquez, and Zoey Horton.

The team’s postseason began at the ECNL West Regional League Playoffs at SilverLakes Sports Complex in Norco, where it won pool games against Las Vegas Heat Surf, 6-0, Snohomish United, 5-1, and Beach FC, 2-0, before besting Pateadores, 1-0, in the June 17 final, guaranteeing their ticket to the ECNL Regional League Finals some 2,572 miles east.

In Virginia, the team opened with a 4-0 win over Tennessee SC, then beat SoCal Blues, 2-1, setting up the July 15 finalagainst Lonestar.

The Legends finished the season 20-2-1 overall.

Twelve-year-old Claremont resident Audrey Bauer, a defender with the Norco girls 2012 Legends Football Club. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Legends manager Carmen Varian, who also has a child on the team, noted the group’s youth in a tough 13-and-under age bracket.

“ECNL Regional League consists of 20 divisions across the US,” Varian wrote in an email. “Ours being the Southwest play in the 2012 age group. Our team consists of players born in 2013 and 5-2014s.”

The demands of a student-athlete can be tough, said Audrey’s mother, Kelly Bauer.

“In order to do what she’s doing because, you know, you hit so much traffic, she actually does her homework on the way to practice three times a week,” Kelly Bauer said.

Audrey, a rising seventh grader at El Roble Intermediate School, has been playing soccer since age 5 and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. She can often be found elevating her game at home with her younger brothers or at Claremont’s Griffith Park.

The first day of school looms on August 27. But the obstacles of middle school aren’t all she has on her mind. Preseason practice recently resumed, and the Legends are gearing up for a pre-season tournament this weekend.