Towson (3-4, 1-0 CAA) earned its first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season Saturday, beating the Georgia State Panthers (3-4, 0-1 CAA) 1-0.

Senior forward Matteo Vertucci scored the lone goal of the game for the Tigers in the 48th minute.

“The CAA is intensity,” Head Coach Frank Olszewski said. “It’s doing your job in home games, and it’s making sure you’re defensively sound. On those three notes, I think we did OK today.”

The Tigers’ offense outshot Georgia State 10-8.

After a slow start to the game, the Tigers began to find their rhythm midway through the first half. The team exposed holes in the Panthers’ defense and took possession of the ball.

After a scoreless first half, the offense took advantage of those holes in the opening minutes of the second half.

Junior forward Olakunle Banjo passed the ball to Vertucci, who then shot a laser that went past Georgia State goalkeeper Vincent Foermer to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with just over 40 minutes remaining in the game.

“I think our ball movement was pretty good,” Olszewski said. “Along with ball movement, you actually have to move your body. The people movement was good off the ball. [The offense] has to find those holes to be had and exploit those holes. Sometimes they don’t come early in the game, sometimes they don’t come until late in the game, but when they come, you’ve got to be ready to take advantage of those.”

Late in the game, freshman goalkeeper Felix Petermann and the defense held off a resilient Panthers’ offense.

Petermann finished the game with a season-high five saves en route to his first career shut out.

“When you get to the end of the game, especially if it’s a 1-0 game, they’re going to go a little bit more direct,” Olszewski said. “In some ways it can play in the defense’s hand. Now you just have to worry about clearing balls and being defensively sound.”

Towson will have the upcoming week to prepare for CAA-rival James Madison. The match is slated to kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va.