EAST LANSING, Mich. – Redshirt senior Ryan Thelen scored his first career goal in the 59^th minute off a Spartan corner kick to defeat the Oregon State Beavers, 1-0 Friday evening.

Thelen had appeared in 45 career games and suffered significant time missed due to injury in his 2010 and 2011 seasons before he scored Friday’s game-winning goal.

“It feels great,” Thelen said to msuspartans.com. “I finally got my first goal, so that’s really nice.”

The defender got his first goal by bending a corner kick over the outstretched Oregon State goalie. The shot curled just inside the far post and landed in the back of the net to give the Spartans an important second half lead in a tight game.

“I sat the ball down, picked my head up and saw the goalie was a little bit off the line,” Thelen said to msuspartans.com. “To be honest, I got pretty lucky just to sneak it in there.”

Oregon State head coach Steve Simmons saw the goal as much as a surprise as Thelen did.

“It was one of those odd plays that sometimes results in a goal,” Simmons said to osubeavers.com. “I think it caught both Michigan State and Oregon State players by surprise when it went in, but that’s soccer for you sometimes.”

The Spartans improved to 2-0-0 in front of 1,243 fans at DeMartin Stadium.

After their third consecutive shutout of the 2013 season, the Spartans look to continue their defensive dominance against Valparaiso on Sunday at DeMartin Stadium.

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Jonathan Yales is the host of Corner Kick for Impact Sports.

Photo: Jonathan Yales

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