SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — With their preliminary-round jitters seemingly behind them, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) have now set their sights on a trophy-filled season.

The Santa Cruz-based school had an unusually indifferent first-round campaign, earning just eight points from their five games before they recovered to top Zone E on 21 points.

But on Tuesday they made their biggest statement yet, slamming deCarteret College 8-0 to top their inter-zone group on maximum nine points.

They had previously beaten Alston High 1-0 and Lennon High 3-1. Those results mean STETHS advanced to the quarter-final round of the daCosta Cup, while also securing a spot in the first round of the Flow Super Cup.

“I would say it has been a challenging season so far,” opined coach Omar Wedderburn.

“It has really tested the character of the players, because it takes pain to know who have heart. Winning all the way is good, but to go through a bad and recover from it shows that you can handle the pressure.”

And despite the early-season slump, Wedderburn said: “The aim is always to win trophies and that has not changed, and I think overcoming this challenge in such a big way has really given the players more belief in themselves.”

STETHS play Charlie Smith High in the Super Cup today, before they resume their hunt for the daCosta Cup title on Wednesday against Group R rivals Marcus Garvey Technical.

Vere Technical and Mannings School also make up Group R. Wedderburn said while they are confident going forward, they will not be taking any of their opponents for granted.

“As I always tell the players, the further you go in the competition the better the teams will be. This is the quarter-finals, so you have the best 16 teams, which means it will only get harder from here,” said Wedderburn.