SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — The intensity is expected to be raised several notches when the round of 16 in the ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup competition kicks off today with eight matches across the island.

Sixteen teams, including one with a perfect win record and another seven who are yet to lose a game, have survived from the over 80 that started the season six weeks ago; and now being only a few steps away from contention for titles, the stakes will be much higher.

Dinthill Technical are the only school yet to drop points so far this season while defending champions Garvey Maceo High, last season’s beaten finalists Manning’s School, former champions Clarendon College, Glenmuir High and Frome Technical, as well as York Castle High are yet to lose a game.

William Knibb, who have drawn two of their 10 games, have yet to concede a goal all season.

The top two schools from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarter-finals and will stay in contention for the ISSA All-Island Knockout, while the third- and fourth-place teams from this round will play for the Ben Francis KO.

Of the eight games on the schedule today the contest at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex between former winners St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Glenmuir High could attract the most attention between teams who qualified for this round via different routes.

While Glenmuir High were beating Tacky High 8-0 for a 10-1 aggregate on Wednesday, STETHS were playing out a 1-1 draw at home against Holmwood Technical for a 2-1 aggregate win.

While STETHS have not been at their traditional high standard scoring goals, with only 24 scored over 12 games, they have conceded just twice all season — and with home field advantage could give Glenmuir High a stout battle.

Glenmuir High have scored 41 goals and conceded just four goals and is expected to be led by Orane Watson, who scored 11 times in the first round, and David Reid who got four against Tacky High on Wednesday.

Champions Garvey Maceo have won their last nine games after being held 2-2 in their opening game and were ruthless against deCarteret College in the second round, winning 15-0 over both legs, and are expected to get the better of Christiana High at Glenmuir High in May Pen.

Christiana High had won their first-round zone but struggled against Happy Grove in the second round and could be overwhelmed by Garvey Maceo today.

Dinthill Technical will be gunning for a 13th-straight win this year, ironically the same number of wins Garvey Maceo had in the entire last season, when they take on Cornwall College at Drax Hall.

By every metric, Dinthill Technical should start favourites in this contest against a Cornwall College team that have pulled off two near escapes to stay in the competition.

Cornwall College, who won their 12th title in 2016, got out of the first round after Maldon High flopped in their chance, handing Cornwall an opportunity, and then overturned a 2-1 loss to Vere Technical in the first leg in the second round, winning a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday.

Dinthill Technical will welcome back starting goalkeeper Asha Hutchinson who was suspended for the second-round second-leg game against Brown’s Town after he was sent off in the first game.

Giovanni Afflick is the leading scorer for Dinthill with 17 goals but Daniel Roberts and Makhaya McKoy can also be dangerous.

Manning’s School have cooled off after a fast start, having just got by Charlemont High in the second round, and could be tested by Edwin Allen today. But, sharp shooter Jhamaleek Porter is a proven game winner and could make the difference.

Clarendon College are hard to overlook, especially after their 12-1 dismantling of St Mary Technical in the second round, and face a Rusea’s High team that has grown in confidence but will have to work hard today to get a result.

Rusea’s High brushed aside first-time qualifiers Belair High in the second round but Clarendon College will be a much tougher team that has scored 44 goals so far and are led by Kaheim Dixon, Marques Reid and Christopher Hull.

The Frome Technical vs York Castle High game could be close, and if there is a winner today that team would take a big step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Both teams are unbeaten so far, had little problems in the previous round, but will get big tests today.