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Rolfe fuels Fire past Revolution

May 4, 2008 - 3:11 AM FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- After missing his last three matches due to injury, Chris Rolfe made his presence felt on Saturday.

Rolfe opened the scoring in the 29th minute and John Thorrington and Stephen King also tallied as the Chicago Fire recorded a 3-0 triumph over the New England Revolution in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference final.

Hampered by a right ankle sprain, Rolfe accepted a long feed from Thorrington at the top of the box. The 25-year-old Rolfe made a quick first step and right-footed a shot that sailed across his body and past diving goalkeeper Matt Reis for his first tally of the season.

"My body felt great tonight," Rolfe said. "Obviously if you can beat New England at their place, (it) is great, and we got three (points) tonight. It was a great game for me to come back to."

"Thankfully we got Rolfe back from injury, and he showed with the first goal why he's playing," Thorrington said.

Chicago coach Denis Hamlet echoed the same sentiment.

"It's great to get him back. He's the guy that we know what he brings to the table, every game," Hamlet said of Rolfe. "I keep saying it, he's different because he just needs half a look, and tonight he was able to get that and finish."

Thorrington doubled the advantage in the 50th minute after a brilliant individual effort by Chad Barrett. Covered by two defenders on the right side of the box, Barrett deftly tapped a centering feed to Thorrington, who sent a slow roller past a diving Reis for his third goal in his last two matches.

King capped the scoring in the 79th minute, cleaning up a rebound off Barrett's initial shot and blasting it past an out-of-position Reis for his first goal of his career.

"It feels amazing," King said. "After I saw the ball go in the net, it was kind of surreal, I think I blacked out for a second. But it was just incredible."

Jon Busch made six saves for the Fire (4-1-1), who recorded a 4-0 victory over the Revolution on April 3.

Reis finished with three stops for New England (3-3-1), which registered a 1-0 win in last season's conference final.

"Well, we were consistent - consistently bad," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "Every single way you look at it, we were sagging, we didn't move the ball."