The high school regular season falls during the spring. After that, AAU teams gather to play during the summer and early fall. By the time February rolls around, it's time to start practice again.

That leaves plenty of time for players from rival high schools to brag about their triumphs from the previous season.

With East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill High Schools winning three of the past four NCHSLA 4-A state titles, needless to say there's been plenty of chatter.

"It's in the back of your mind during the summer," said Wildcat midfielder Scott Meyer, who played on the 2006 state championship team that defeated CHHS 10-2. "You try to focus on your next game and worry about Chapel Hill when the time comes."

"I don't know that there's a can-you-top-this aspect to it," said East coach Franklin Zirkle. "I think it's two teams that are incredibly intense when they play each other. It's a natural rivalry that's been there for quite sometime. It's one of those things as a coach that you don't have to say much about as a rivalry game because everybody knows it's going to be good."

When East last hoisted the state crown, Meyer was a sophomore under the tutelage of upperclassmen like Tony Mendes (now playing at Maryland), Uly Lim and Chris Manning. Last year's Wildcats had almost as many seniors as all underclassmen combined.

While East still starts three senior midfielders, it also fields 10 sophomores and ninth-graders regularly. Meyer, who has committed to Duke, suddenly finds himself as an elder statesman.

"I get to do more teaching," said Meyer. "Getting those guys up to par with the seniors is a big focus right now. We're trying to get everyone up to par so there's not a big drop-off in experience as the year goes on."

Fortunately for the Wildcats, the youth hasn't had a negative impact on the field. East improved to 6-1 after a convincing 13-7 win Thursday over Ravenscroft at Wildcat Stadium. Senior midfielder Nick Vitali and Scott Elkins each notched hat tricks, while Meyer added two goals.

The Wildcats opened their PAC-6 season on Tuesday night with a 7-3 win at Riverside High School. The Pirates, always one of the state's best-coached teams, provide an annual benchmark of progress for East and CHHS.

Tom St. Geme and Thomas Meyer each scored two goals on the Pirates, while freshman Ryan Lucey had a goal and an assist. Vitali and Scott Meyer each had one goal. Scott Elkins assisted on the Lucey goal.

Senior keeper MacKenzie Turvey closed the door on several shots from close range, and the East defense got excellent play from Will Devlin, Breck Ecker, Noel Meyers, Thomas Moore and Cristo Briceno, said Zirkle, while Dan Eron picked up many ground balls off of faceoffs.

Juniors Karsten Bench and Tyler Bench made the most of their time, and senior Ricco Diggins made an appearance at the end. Sophomore Kord Scharfenberg logged more minutes on the evening and provided valuable ground ball play, as did Culen Wilson.

The Wildcats get a few days off for spring break and reconvene on Wednesday morning for a trip to Wilmington to face Wilmington Laney and Wilmington Hoggard.

On the west side of Chapel Hill, the Tigers of CHHS have an entirely different take on experience. CHHS romped to the 2007 4-A state championship, outscoring opponents 62-19 in the state tournament. This year's group is already drawing talk about being perhaps the best high school team ever in North Carolina.

Chapel Hill High has 27 lettermen back from the state championship team, including all-state performers John Haus and Logan Corey, and William Scroggs and Stephen Burns, all of them destined for college lacrosse teams. Not to mention that in last year's 16-6 state championship victory over Charlotte Providence, only underclassmen scored.

So far, the Tigers are 5-1 and ranked second in the state among public schools. The only loss came to Gilman High, a power out of Maryland ranked sixth in the country.

East is ranked No. 5 in Laxpower's North Carolina ratings of public schools, and the first meeting between the two Chapel Hill rivals is only two weeks away on April 4 at East Chapel Hill.

Regardless whether UNC basketball is in the Final Four or not, you can bet that the winner of that game will be the talk of the lacrosse town.

For a few weeks, anyway, until the state playoffs begin anew.