The road to Stony Brook begins this weekend as men's lacrosse conference gets underway in America East with three contests. The top four teams in the conference standings following the regular season will qualify for the conference tournament, which will take place at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium the first weekend of May.All three contests take place Saturday with Vermont hosting Stony Brook at 1 p.m., UMBC visiting Hartford at 2 p.m. and Binghamton entertaining Albany at 3 p.m.Stony Brook at Vermont, 1 p.m. -- Live Video Stony Brook (5-4) begins pursuit of its fourth-straight America East regular-season crown at Vermont (3-6). The Seawolves, who are 18-2 in conference games the last four seasons, are a perfect 12-0 all-time against Vermont, including a 13-5 decision on Long Island last year.Both teams are solid defensively as UVM ranks second in the league in team goals-against average (9.60) and Stony Brook is third (10.12). The Seawolves have the edge on the offensive end, averaging 9.67 scores per game to Vermont's 7.78. The game features two of the top players in the league in Stony Brook's Jeff Tundo and Vermont's Drew Philie. The seniors have combined for 60 points as Tundo ranks third in the league in points per game (4.0 ppg), racking up 36 on 21 goals and 15 assists. Philie is seventh (2.67 ppg) with 24 on 20 goals and four assists.UMBC at Hartford, 2 p.m. -- Live Video Both teams enter league play playing well as UMBC (3-5) has won two of its last three and Hartford (3-4) has won three of four after an 0-3 start. The Hawks have won six of the last seven meetings in the series, but that one loss came last year as the Retrievers won, 16-14.The Hawks posted wins over Siena, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac before getting edged, 13-11, by UMass its last time out. UMBC is fourth in the league averaging 10.0 goals per game while Hartford is fourth scoring 9.14 times per contest. UMBC looks to have an advantage on special teams. The Retrievers lead the league with a .423 man-up scoring percentage, while Hartford is last in killing percentage (.565).Scott Jones leads UMBC with 19 points, good for ninth in the league, on 16 goals and three assists, while Jack Bobzien, a two-time America East Rookie of the Week, has 25 points to pace Hartford, which ranks sixth in the league. His 20 assists are second most.Albany at Binghamton, 3 p.m. -- Live Video | Live Stats America East's top offense and its top defense collide when Albany (5-3) and Binghamton (4-4) meet Saturday. The Great Danes won last year's meeting, 12-11, and is 10-3 all-time in the series. Albany, winner of four of its last five games, features one of the nation's top offenses, which averages 14.4 goals per game, the most in the country entering the week. The Thompson trio of brothers Lyle and Miles, and cousin Ty, are the reason for the success. The trio has combined for 61 goals and 50 assists already this season. Lyle, who has 20 goals and 35 assists, ranks second nationally with 6.88 points per game.Binghamton has one of the league's best back lines as the Bearcats, who have won two of their last three, lead the conference with an 8.50 team GAA. Goaltender Max Sheffler has contributed immensely to that success as he leads the league in GAA (8.44), save percentage (.610) and saves per game (13.1). Offensively, Matt Springer leads the way with 16 goals and 18 points.