Losses are something teams never want to deal with, but there can be value in learning from them. Despite the 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 the nation can only help his squad.

The defeat was the Knights' first of the season.

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

According to College Soccer News, four of UCF's upcoming opponents are currently ranked in the Top 30 national poll. The Knights' next opponent - California - received votes in the CSN ranking. Playing a daunting schedule will benefit the Knights in the post-season.

"You always want to play the best so you can move up the rankings 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 thing for us and we'll get some good results out of it."

Old Dominion was the first ranked team the Knights 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.