TAMPA — It was a rivalry match, so the last thing Mitchell’s Mico Petrovich wanted was for it to end in a tie.
“The whole time I was worried,” the senior said about the second-half knotted score.
Sickles (5-1, 2-1) took a one-goal lead into the break Tuesday, but Petrovich evened things in the 55th minute with his seventh goal of the season. His work, though, was not quite done.
Off a free kick near half field, Petrovich chested a through ball from teammate Nathaniel Hayes. Petrovich said he thought for a moment about making a cross, but the Mustangs (5-1, 4-0) hadn’t been scoring much on crosses lately. Instead, he decided to go for it himself.
Petrovich got past two defenders on his way to scoring the winner in the 71st minute as the Mustangs topped the Gryphons 2-1.
Tuesday’s game marked the third match in which Petrovich has recorded at least two goals.
For most of the first half, Sickles dominated. The Gryphons got on the board in the 36th minute when Marwzouq Bholai trapped a ball in the left corner and passed to Garrett Dunton, who scored Sickles’ only goal.
That goal wouldn’t be enough after the Mustangs’ strong second half. But, Sickles coach Carl May said, it should have been enough to tie had a costly mistake not gotten in the way.
Petrovich scored his first goal when he received a through ball from Hayes, but a miscommunication on defense caused both the Sickles goalkeeper and center back to inch up, leaving just enough space for Petrovich.
“They’re probably one of the best teams we’ll face,” May said. “We just miscommunicated a couple times in the back, and when you miscommunicate like that in the back you’re going to get scored on.”
Mitchell won its fifth in a row after falling to Berkeley Prep in the season opener. Petrovich said the Mustangs took the early disappointment and learned from it. Coach Oscar Ubillus said he even made some adjustments to his team’s formation.
“Ever since then we’ve been on fire,” Petrovich said.