ST. LOUIS, MO (October 7, 2010) – AC St. Louis, playing in the USSF Division 2 Pro League, announced that goalkeeper Alec Dufty will be joining the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer for the remainder of the 2010 MLS season. Dufty was recently awarded by the St. Louligan Supporters Group as the Most Defensive Player (see picture on home page). The loan agreement between AC St. Louis and Chicago gives Dufty his second opportunity to play in the MLS.

Dufty’s chance to join Chicago stemmed from a practice mishap. Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson was struck in the face with a ball, the resulting injury sent the Chicago coaching staff on a quick search for a back-up goalkeeper. A call to AC St. Louis Head Coach Dale Schilly was made inquiring about Dufty, and a quick loan agreement was reached. Dufty joins a Chicago team that is in 5th place in the Eastern conference of the MLS with a record of 7-11-8. The Fire are in action this Friday night at Columbus, and Dufty is expected to be in uniform.

“Every opportunity that Alec Dufty receives is earned,” stated Dale Schilly. “He singlehandedly won games for us early in the year, and he continued to help us gain points as the year progressed. I am sure he will make the most of this opportunity because Alec has a great commitment and work ethic in training.”

Dufty appeared in all 33 matches that AC St. Louis had in 2010, and played in every minute of every game. Dufty finished the season tied for the league lead in game played, and was second in minutes played with 2,692. Dufty was only eight minutes off a perfect mark of 2,700 minutes due to an abandoned game in August, which cost him eight minutes of playing time.

Dufty previously played in the MLS with Red Bull New York and the Columbus Crew. He made his MLS debut on April 11 of 2009 with Red Bull New York in a game against the Houston Dynamo. After being released by New York he was later called up the Columbus Crew.

In his first season with AC St. Louis Dufty recorded seven shutouts and seven wins for the expansion side. The 23-year old hails from Binghamton, New York, and attended college at Evansville and Appalachian State.