Losses are something teamsnever want to deal with, but there can be value in learning from them. Despitethe UCF men's soccer team's 2-0 loss to No. 11 Old Dominion Saturday night,head coach Bryan Cunningham knows playing against one of the top teams in thenation can only help his squad.

The defeat was the Knights' first of the season.

"We'll be better because of this game," Cunningham said. "Wehave a good team and we're only going to get better. You learn from wins andyou learn from losses."

According to College Soccer News, four of UCF's upcomingopponents are currently ranked in the Top 30 national poll. The Knights' nextopponent - California - received votes in the CSN ranking. Playing a dauntingschedule will benefit the Knights in the post-season.

"You always want to play the best so you can move up therankings and get into the [NCAA] Tournament," senior forward A.J. Nelson said."Getting those good tests will help us come tournament time. It's a good thingfor us and we'll get some good results out of it."

Old Dominion was the first ranked team theKnights faced this season.

"It's tough, but it's a good test early," Nelson said."Hopefully we can learn from it and move forward."

The Knights will play at California this Friday.