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Sunshine at the start? That was a first for the Portland Hearts of Pine in their home state.

Getting a quick lead was also something new for Maine’s first-year men’s professional soccer team. Going ahead 2-0? That hadn’t happened since the inaugural 4-0 win against amateur squad CD Faialense in the U.S. Open Cup in Lewiston back on March 20.

By the end of Saturday evening’s dry and highly-entertaining match, Portland had its second straight home win and its first in the USL’s Jagermeister Cup, beating Detroit City FC, 4-2, in front of 5,651 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Azaad Liadi, Ollie Wright, Walter Verala, and recently signed Mo Mohamed scored. Natty James had two assists in the first half, and Jay Tee Kamara had a pair of assists in the second half to counter two second-half goals by Detroit City. Goalkeeper Kash Oladapo made just his second start of the season and was splendid, with nine saves.

“We try to win every game. It’s nice to beat a team that’s above us … and it shows our quality and what we can do,” James said.

Detroit City FC is in fourth place in the USL Championship, one level above USL League One, where Portland competes. Portland’s 11th-place standing in League One didn’t change with Saturday’s win, but the club improved to 4-3-5 overall and showed offensive flair and finishing ability.

“It’s a Cup game. It’s a nice time for other players to get opportunities to show what we can do,” said James, who will turn 21 on June 17. “We have a lot of players competing for time at every position. The competitiveness can only do us good and push everyone to play better and better.”

Portland coach Bobby Murphy said that because Portland had lost its Jagermeister Cup opener to Hartford Athletic, he emphasized playing time over a win-at-all-costs outlook when designing his starting lineup. That’s why Oladapo made just his second start in net, and James (four games played) and Kamara (two games) made their first starts, while regulars such as center back Sean Vinberg, attacking midfielder Masashi Wada, striker Titus Washington and forward Walter Verala started the game on the bench. In addition, captain and midfielder Patrick Langlois was out because of an ankle injury suffered in last week’s 1-1 tie at Forward Madison that will keep him out of action for weeks, Murphy said. In the back, Kemali Green returned after missing five games because of a hamstring injury.

“The Cup’s like a different animal. It’s a group, we lost the first one. You look at it like, yeah, we could advance, we could not, but guys needed minutes,” Murphy said. “Kash deserved a game. It was a good time to get him a game. Jay Tee needed a start. Natty’s come in and played 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there, so he needed to get some minutes under his belt.”

The reserves impressed, and now the Hearts have three points and are tied for third place in the six-team group with Detroit City. USL Championship teams Hartford Athletic and Rhode Island FC each have six points. Portland is at Rhode Island FC on June 28 and will finish group play July 25 at home against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

James, who will report to the Trinidad and Tobago international team on Monday for Gold Cup competition, set up the first goal when he slotted a pass in the fifth minute to Liadi, who burst past Detroit’s defense and booted it into the left panel past charging Detroit City keeper Carlos Saldana (two saves).

“I think it was a good pass. Azaad was calling me as well, so he kind of initiated it,” James said. “He showed me where he wanted the ball and I just put it in there.”

James’ second assist came after a series of dangerous plays involving Wright, Liadi and Kamara. James alertly ran onto a free ball after a slight touch by Liadi and got a quick forward pass into the box that Wright — a mainstay in the lineup — converted for his first goal of the season, in the 28th minute.

Oladapo was outstanding in the first half, making six saves, including three in less than three minutes on Detroit’s leading scorer, Darren Smith. The last was a quick right-hand reaction after Smith beat a Portland defender cleanly — a save that left Smith holding his head in exasperation. Oladapo also stopped a doorstep header by Connor Rutz in the 44th minute after an on-target entry pass by wing Ates Diouf.

“Of course the crowd is amazing out here, so when you get a goal early, it just gives you so much confidence, extra belief, extra juice and you just carry it on,” Oladapo said.

Detroit City cut its deficit to 2-1 on a one-timer from Sebastian Guenzati off a cross from Ben Morris. Those two entered at halftime.

Portland regained its two-goal lead when Kamara beat Detroit’s top defender, Devon Amoo0-Mensah, and set up a clean shot for Verala, who converted into a wide-open left side in the 79th minute. Verala entered in the 76th minute.

Smith finally converted for Detroit in the 81st minute, on what was his fifth or sixth sterling chance, only to have the Hearts break free on a counterattack that started with a Michel Poon-Angeron win in the midfield, advanced to Verala, who sent it to Kamara on the right wing. Kamara laid off a back-heel pass that Mohamed ran onto for the final tally.