Minnesota United is stress-testing the jurisprudence of Murphy’s Law.

Amid a stubborn and growing list of absent players, the Loons’ play early in Wednesday’s game against Vancouver Whitecaps further pushed the adage of what can go wrong, will go wrong.

Michael Boxall, the Loons captain and center back, made a ghastly error in the opening four minutes to concede a goal and MNUFC was immediately chasing the game in a 3-1 loss at Allianz Field.

MNUFC (8-8-6, 29 points) has lost five straight matches, setting a new club record for worst skid in its MLS era.

To twist the knife, Vancouver (8-7-7, 31 points) joined Portland with recent wins over Minnesota leading to them leaping over the Loons in the Western Conference standings.

Boxall under-hit a back pass to goalkeeper Alec Smir. Whitecaps forward Ryan Gauld pounced and passed to Brian White for the opening goal.

On a Vancouver corner kick in the 16th minute, Boxall had Mathias Laborda get in behind for a header into the back of the net.

The Loons had chances to get a goal back in the 24th and 27th minutes. Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka came far out of goal, but Robin Lod’s shot was blocked by a Vancouver defender. Then Vancouver was called for a handball in the box, but surprise penalty kick taker Joseph Rosales’ poor shot was saved by Takaoka.

Rosales got some redemption on a corner kick in the 30th minute. His service was headed by Hassani Dotson to the back post and Bongi Hlongwane got his left foot on it to make it 2-1.

Smir made his MLS debut in net for the Loons; the 25-year-old MNUFC2 player got the start with Dayne St. Clair away with Canada and Clint Irwin out after injuring his groin after the Portland loss Saturday.

Smir said he learned about his start earlier this week and first called his parents to share the news.

“It’s been a wild couple days,” Smir said on the 1500 ESPN pregame show.

Smir gave up three goals, including a quality long-range strike by Sebastian Berhalter in the 60th minute. None of the three concessions should be chalked up as Smir’s fault.

Briefly

The Loons had 16 shots to Vancouver’s six, but only five of Minnesota’s attempts were on frame. … With eight players out, Alejandro Bran was thrust into the starting lineup after being away from the Loons for weeks and just coming off the bench for Costa Rica in Copa America on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas. … The Loons signed goalkeeper Oscar Herrera to an MLS NEXT Pro contract and a short-term loan to the first team for Wednesday’s match. Herrera, of Madison, Wis., played at Augsburg through 2023 and has been training with MNUFC’s first and second teams this year. … Midfielder Franco Fragapane made his 100th appearance for the Loons on Wednesday.

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