MILWAUKEE – Welcome back to the starting lineup, Mike Catalano.

After working his way back from injury, the sophomore midfielder made his first start since Sept. 19 and scored the game-winning goal that helped lead the Wisconsin men's soccer team to a 1-0 shutout of in-state rival Milwaukee at Engelmann Stadium on Wednesday night.

The second win in their last three games, the Badgers (4-9-2, 1-2-2 Big Ten) continued work in building momentum before returning home to Madison and starting the final three-game push of their Big Ten Conference slate and regular season.

"It's always a great game at Engelmann," UW head coach John Trask said. "There's something about the Wisconsin and Milwaukee series, whether it's here, at our place or in an NCAA tournament game like two years ago. It's not easy to win a college soccer game and our guys went out and did that tonight. We scored a good goal, we were resolute in our defense and we pitched a shutout.

"Credit to UWM. I've got a lot of respect for Kris Kelderman and his staff. It was a hard-fought, typical Wisconsin vs. Milwaukee matchup."

With both the Panthers (3-9-2, 1-4-1 Horizon League) and the Badgers looking for their fourth win of the season, the first half was a physical period of play. Wisconsin had eight fouls, while Milwaukee had seven fouls. The Panthers got the better of the period in terms of pace of play, outshooting the Badgers by a 6-4 margin. UW was held without a shot on goal throughout the first 45 minutes.

Coming out of halftime, Catalano kick-started Wisconsin.

Catalano finally got the Badgers their first shot on goal of the game in the 52nd minute and did not let it go to waste. Fighting through a defender for a loose ball, Catalano gained possession off the defensive turnover, got position at the top of the box and fired a shot that snuck past UWM goalkeeper Agustin Rey near post for the score.

It was the second goal of the season for Catalano and his first since a road game against Santa Clara on Sept. 4.

Catalano nearly scored another goal in the 79th minute, heading a ball that initially looked to have been good for a goal, but it was punched out by Rey and said to have not crossed the goal line.

Still, Catalano's energy and offensive spark in the midfield earned him the game-winning goal, three shots and two shots on goal in the contest.

"It's just good to have him back," Trask said of Catalano's return to the starting lineup. "He's another one of our good midfielders. All the way around though, it was a good defensive effort. I know a couple of our other guys would have liked to have gotten goals, but the most important thing is that we got another good team win."

Typically tight contests, this was the third straight game between Wisconsin and Milwaukee decided by one goal. The Badgers won their third straight game against the Panthers and are now unbeaten over the last eight matches.

Adrian Remeniuk finished with three saves to work with the Badger defense for their third shutout of the season. 

"It was good to see these guys get a win and I thought it was very important to get one going into this final three-game stretch on our season," Trask said.

Wisconsin returns home to host Penn State on Saturday for a 7 p.m. CT game at the McClimon Complex. It will serve as Senior Night.