DENVER – Time will tell if the MSU Denver men's soccer team was able to ease its way into the season with six straight home games, as the season wears on the quality of those opponents is revealed.
 
But, if nothing else, things will look decidedly different this week as the Roadrunners play away from home for the first time in non-conference games against conference opponents Regis (Wednesday at 7 p.m.) and Fort Lewis (Sunday at 1:30 p.m.).
 
"We know we can win on the road in big games," midfielder Alec Nguyen said. "It doesn't scare us at all. We like being in an environment where it's kind of hostile. It makes us raise our level."
 
At 4-1-1, MSU Denver is at its highest level to start a season since opening 6-0 in 2014.
 
Regis is off to a 2-4 start, while Fort Lewis is 1-2-2. The Skyhawks play Friday at Regis.
 
"We're still trying to figure out ourselves, and I'm sure they're doing the same," MSU Denver coach Nick Kirchhof said of Regis. "They're a good opponent. Obviously there's a little bit of a rivalry based on location, and I expect a good game against them as well as at Fort Lewis."
 
Regis was picked to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's preseason coaches poll after going 9-8-1 overall and 5-5 to tie for sixth in the league last year. Fort Lewis was the other team in the 5-5 tie for sixth and was 8-8-1 overall. The Skyhawks were picked to finish sixth this year.
 
MSU Denver has shown signs that perhaps it is better that its preseason projection to tie for seventh, but some indication could come in the non-conference road games this week.
 
The actual conference season starts Sept. 21, when Regis comes to the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
Playing each other twice in a week, the Roadrunners and Rangers will get to know more about one another than they already do. How much of the teams' true identities will be revealed in Wednesday's matchup remains to be seen.
 
"As we get going into the conference, we'll add some things here and there," Kirchhof said. "But for the most part we're really just trying to sharpen the tools and make sure that we're really good at what we're trying to be really good at. We'll prepare for any team we face, but realistically we want to keep working on what we want to be doing."
 
A 1-0 win at Fort Lewis last year was the third straight win to open a 4-0-1 finish to the regular season that got the Roadrunners into the RMAC Tournament. Fort Lewis is the alma mater of Kirchhof, who won a national title as a player in 2005 and reached the national championship game again in 2006.
 
Earlier in the season, MSU Denver and Regis faced one another twice and both results left the Roadrunners disappointed.
 
The Roadrunners led the non-conference home game 1-0 until yielding a goal with 2:08 left in regulation and settling for a 1-1 tie. In the league game at Regis, Aidan Bates staked MSU Denver to a 1-0 lead just 36 seconds into the contest, but Regis rallied with a goal in each half to win 2-1.
 
"It was upsetting last year, because I think we should have put them away in the first game at home, and we let it slip away late when we played there," Nguyen said. "We want to hopefully come away with the win, but nothing is guaranteed. We're going to work hard and see what can happen."