LEWISTON — Just about everything is a first right now for the Portland Hearts of Pine. The professional soccer team, still very much in its earliest stages, has already celebrated its first win, first goal, penalty kick shootout win, and numerous other little firsts that come with any team’s inaugural season. Tuesday night at Don Roux Field at Lewiston High, the Hearts had another first. Not one worth celebrating, but one necessary nonetheless. In the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Hearts of Pine suffered their first collision with adversity, falling to Rhode Island FC, 2-1. It doesn’t matter that Rhode Island FC plays in the USL Championship, one league above the Hearts of Pine’s USL League One. After falling behind 2-0 in the first half — allowing a pair of goals in the span of about two minutes — the Hearts had an uphill climb. While they controlled play in the second half, a two-goal deficit is a lot. It’s a loss, and the Hearts’ run in the U.S. Open Cup is over, but coach Bobby Murphy and his players are not making too much of the defeat. Neither should the fans. This is all part of the learning process. “You saw it (in the) second half. We came out and played them off the pitch,” said Titus Washington, who scored Portland’s goal in the 65th minute. “Every game and every experience we’ve had is a lesson. Bobby keeps reiterating that. It’s a learning curve, and I think we’re really catching on to it. We take something from every game. We lost, but what can we fix? What can we do better? We have a lot of smart guys on our team, and we’re starting to gel more.” Coming on the heels of Saturday’s 2-1 loss in a USL1 match at South Georgia Tormenta FC, Tuesday’s setback actually gives Portland its first losing streak. It’s a modest two games, nothing to get upset about, but again, it’s a chance for team development. That’s what this entire first season is, a process. The Hearts of Pine built this thing from nothing in a matter of months. It was just early December when the team held a tryout for Mainers at Falmouth High School. “They’re young, and there’s going to be nights where they’re young. And Saturday night was one of them,” said Murphy. One on hand, Murphy said, two losses in a row isn’t good. A streak doesn’t need more than a shove to become a trend, and you don’t want to get in the habit of losing games. On the other hand, look at the Hearts of Pine’s travel log from the past few weeks. A Cup game in Lewiston, then off to Florida for a league game. Another Cup game in Lewiston, followed immediately by a trip across the country to Spokane, Washington. Then, Saturday’s game in Statesboro, Georgia. There is no simple way to get from Portland to Statesboro, and Murphy noted he didn’t get home and in bed until 3 a.m. Monday. Then, another Cup game Tuesday night. “It’s been a lot of travel. It’s been a lot of not sleeping very much,” Washington said. So yeah, two losses in a row, when you look at it on the surface, is disappointing. Or, peel back a layer or two and study the context. Even when the Hearts have been home, they haven’t had time to train or rest. “You put that hot air balloon up a little higher and you look at that travel schedule,” Murphy said. “There’s nothing to hang your head about. We move on. That’s the lens I choose to look at this through, because that’s the lens I believe in.” The bigger thing this young team gains, what will matter as the season wears on, is the experience. “You can’t teach experience. It’s one thing you have to go through. You have to walk through fires and know you’ll come out the other side. You have to see how good you are. You have to see how competitive you are,” Murphy said. With six minutes of extra time tacked onto the second half, the Hearts played frantically. That extra time is kept on the field by the official. There’s no clock to glance at except the one in your head that’s no doubt running faster than real life. Now, the Hearts of Pine get a short break, with no games on the schedule for 11 days. Up next is a USL Jagermeister Cup game at Hartford on April 26. That gives the team time to rest, and train, and catch its breath. Most important, it gives Portland time to learn from the grind so far. When everything is new, everything is an opportunity.