MADISON, Wis. -- Despite an evenly matched offensive battle in the first half, No. 19 Xavier scored two second-half goals and earned a 2-0 win against the Wisconsin men's soccer team at the McClimon Soccer Complex on Sunday night.

The Badgers put together a nice first half, during which they held the Musketeers (2-0-0) scoreless. XU entered the game coming off an 8-0 win Friday night over Eastern Illinois, but was blanked through the first 45 minutes by goalkeeper Casey Beyers and the UW defense.

"We had some good attacks tonight that we didn't finish, but we need to tighten things up and we will," UW head coach John Trask said. "We have great players. I think there's no question that it's a talented group of players. It's just this continued maturity that we need to promote within the group."

The scoreless first half gave way to only two shots for the Badgers (0-2-0), as Mike Catalano tallied the only shot on goal through the first period. Catalano led UW in shots for the second-consecutive game to start the season.

Xavier came out a different team in the second half, however, as it took just seconds before Josh Grant scored the game's first goal on a header in the 46th minute. He was assisted by Matt Nance and Matt Vasquenza on the scoring play.

"Xavier was an Elite Eight team last year and a top-20 program," Trask said. "They returned almost all of their players. I thought in the first half we were well in it. They raised their game and we dropped off. It's part of the learning curve."

The Musketeers tacked on one final score in the 74th minute via penalty kick, which was converted by Alex Ridsdale for his second goal of the season.

The Badgers had one final and significant scoring opportunity in the 81st minute, as sophomore forward Mark Segbers was fed a ball at the top of the box. Unfortunately, Segbers' shot went wide right.

Wisconsin actually finished the game in a tie with Xavier in both shots, 6-6, and in corner kicks, 4-4.

"We really feel like this team is going to come together, hopefully by the time we start Big Ten play," Trask said. "We knew there would be some learning pains. Some guys' roles have changed a little bit. The first half was a very good performance by us. Unfortunately, they stepped it up and we let our guard down a little bit and they were the aggressor."

The Badgers take their first road trip of the season next weekend, beginning Friday with a game at Santa Clara.