Gaby Baloci dances around Pleasant Valley in City High's 3-1 win

IOWA CITY — The magic feet of Gaby Baloci toyed with Pleasant Valley's defenders and contributed to all three goals as top-ranked Iowa City High defeated Pleasant Valley, 3-1, in a Class 3A substate semifinal Wednesday night at City High.

'That's my role,' said the dynamic midfielder. 'Go around the defenders and get the ball to our forwards.'

City High (17-0) plays host to Davenport Central (15-6) Saturday at noon for the right to go to the state tournament. The teams did not play this year.

Pleasant Valley ended its season 9-8.

Baloci's attack down the left side in the fourth minute gave City the early lead on an own goal.

'It hit one of their guys,' Baloci said. 'There were so many players in the box. I was just crossing it in.'

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Although City dominated possession in the first half against a conservative, packed-in Spartan defense, the score was only 1-0 at half. But in the 54th minute, Baloci made a run down the right side and crossed to Rasmuss Schlutter in the box.

'I was just looking to chest it off and try to get a ball in, but unfortunately there was a guy in front of me,' Schlutter said. The defender was called for a hand ball.

'It was very clear — the ball was going in,' Schlutter said.

Victor Rodriguez-Brown cashed in on the PK to boost the lead to 2-0.

Baloci, who used his speed and ball-handling to outmaneuver the Spartans, struck again in the 65th minute when he crossed it to Schlutter.

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'This time there wasn't a defender there and I was there to tap it in,' Schlutter said.

The Spartans finally pushed up some players and got a shot, their first, with 9 minutes left. A minute later, Eric Dilley scored for the final margin. Until then, they had shown no sense of urgency with their attack

Senior defender Collin O'Meara missed the game with a slight knee injury, City Coach Jose Fajardo said.

'We knew what was coming today was not an attacking team,' Fajardo said. 'It's a defensive team.'