MADISON, Wis. -- One goal was all the difference between the Wisconsin men's soccer team and Interstate-94 rival Marquette, as the Golden Eagles scored late in the second half and pulled out a 1-0 road victory at the McClimon Complex on Wednesday night.

A contested and hard-fought game throughout, the Golden Eagles (4-4-2, 0-1-1 BIG EAST) were finally able to break through and score in the 77th minute, which ended up standing as the game-winning goal.

The Badgers (2-8-1, 1-1-1 Big Ten) were the offensive aggressor in the second half and were only outshot by a 16-15 margin. UW outshot MU 8-4 in the second half alone. Corner kicks were just as even, as Marquette only had one more than Wisconsin for a 6-5 edge in the category.

Still, Marquette's Kelmend Islami was able to finish off a long service into the box by Adam Hermsen at the back of the six-yard box for the Golden Eagle's game-winning goal.

"In the second half, we seemed to kind of take over the game in many ways, but just not able to put a play away," UW head coach John Trask said. "Compliment to Marquette for making the play, but there were too many mistakes by us. I think we've improved again. There are parts of the Michigan game and parts of tonight that will move forward."

The Badgers had a few big scoring opportunities of their own, but they were just unable to find the ball in the back of the net. Both Tom Barlow and Sam Brotherton found themselves with quality scoring chances, but both efforts hit the goal post.

Barlow's chance came in the 37th minute, when he was fed a ball in the box after beating the MU defenders, but his shot hit the far right post. 

Brotherton's opportunity came within the final 10 minutes and could have tied the game up. After a quick throw-in from Brian Hail, Alex Masbruch served up a long ball toward the far right post that found Brotherton's head, but his leaping header bounced off the right goal post.

Wisconsin goalkeeper Adrian Remeniuk (2-4-1) finished the game with five saves, while Marquette's goaltender, Luis Barraza (4-42), finished with two.

The Badgers remain home this week and resume Big Ten Conference play against Michigan State.

"I always count on these guys to bounce back and I think they will," Trask said of the Badgers. "Hopefully we'll have a good Big Ten performance this week. We've got five Big Ten games, so there are plenty of points on the table for us."

Wisconsin and Michigan State kick off 7 p.m. CT Saturday.