I think the 2-1 as it happened ended up being more beneficial to them than the 2-1 that was expected.
You learn from every game, but if it were the other way around, it's only one solid win to draw off of and a win against a team they figured to beat anyway.
The way it turned out, it's two solid wins to draw off of (confidence-wise and in other ways) plus a disappointing loss that they can learn from, to hopefully avoid that type of loss against a lower echelon CAA team later (and as mentioned in the other thread, when Tarleton State is no longer so shorthanded, that loss may also not look so disappointing later).