Sept. 4, 2005

Courtesy Chicago Fire Media Relations

CHICAGO - The Chicago Fire today announced that the club has come to terms with forward Chris Rolfe on a new contract that will move the rookie striker to the club's 18-man senior player roster. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not announced. The senior roster spot was created after the club placed midfielder Scott Buete on the MLS Season Ending Injury list.

Rolfe has been a main cog in the Fire's offensive attack since making his MLS debut off the bench in the squad's 2005 season opener at FC Dallas on Apr. 2. Rolfe has made an immediate impact during his first professional season, with his five goals and four assists earning the University of Dayton product consideration for the 2005 MLS Gatorade Rookie of the Year award. Rolfe has played in 23 of the team's 25 matches this season, including 16 starts, and is the team leader in shots with 53 and shots on goal with 24 in addition to ranking tied for second in goals and fourth in assists.

"Chris has had a terrific start to his career and we feel he's earned the right to be a part of our senior roster," said Fire Head Coach Dave Sarachan. "We're pleased that we could reward him and expect further great things out of Chris for the rest of the season."

Rolfe played at Dayton from 2001-2004 and was selected to the 2004 NSCAA/adidas Men's NCAA Division I All-America Second Team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and was a First Team All-Atlantic 10 pick.

Despite playing in only 13 games, Rolfe racked up 24 points in 2004, the third-highest total in the league. He scored seven goals and set a UD single-season assists record with 10, to lead the Atlantic 10 Conference. He does not qualify for the NCAA's statistical averages categories due to his number of games played, but his 0.83 assists per game would be second in the nation, and his 2.00 points per game would rank 10th. His 10 assists tied him for 12th in the NCAA in total assists, despite playing in less games than those above him.