Is there no end to the madness? The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s soccer team, coming off an exhilarating victory against Marquette in a game full to the brim with storylines and emotion, have taken a systematical free fall in the standings and find themselves facing a lost season if they don’t turn the tide, and fast.

The season began to look up following the Marquette game, the first ever under the lights of Engelmann and the first win over former coach Louis Bennett.

The Panthers found themselves just 3-4, but three of their losses had been to ranked teams. Milwaukee had a serious chance to rebound. That rebound never happened.

Missed opportunities and defensive mishaps have turned a once promising season into something more resembling a nightmare.

The Panthers have gone 0-4-1 since the greatest game in Engelmann history, and close shaves have been the recurring theme in each contest. Not one game was lost by more than one goal, and not one game was completely out of reach for UWM.

Milwaukee tied the game in Detroit, only to be scored upon seven minutes later. In truly dejecting fashion, the Panthers scored one amazing goal against Wisconsin, only to be tied up on a stupid penalty inside the keeper box. They almost redeemed themselves by scoring another goal, but Madison tallied a goal with five minutes remaining to tie the game up for good. Two overtime periods left the Panthers reeling.

Since the tie that never should have happened, Milwaukee has lost three straight decisions 1-0. First, a trip to Miami left the Panthers sunburned with three fruitless second-half corner kicks. Second, the annual LeWang Trophy game brought a heartbreaking overtime goal after Milwaukee cleared a corner kick. A game against UIC, the 12th-ranked team in the country and Horizon League favorite, could have been the chance for UWM to capitalize on a team that just lost their first match of the year.

Did they seize the opportunity? No, with 10 minutes left, the Flames’ Tonci Skroce kicked a goal into an open net as Grant Fernstrum misplayed the ball.

What caused this meltdown? Certainly there were many missed opportunities. UWM took 16 shots against Madison, yet yielded only two goals. The Panthers took 16 shots in the second half against Detroit’s master goalkeeper Sasha Boskovic only to get one against the nylon.

Milwaukee’s failure to even get shots on goal against UIC led to their demise. Whatever the problems seem to be, head coach Jon Coleman better figure them out before this team gets buried in the bottom of the pack.

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