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it was a busy day of action — with some real interesting results.

I was on hand at Fairfield for a crucial game between the Stags and visiting Colgate. More on that in a minute. (You can also check out an interview I did after the game with Colgate sophomore midfielder and former Hen Hud two-time all-American Rob Bosco here.)

But the top story off of all the action that went down is No. 12 Hofstra’s 9-7 win over No. 3 Princeton.

This was the third year Hofstra coach Seth Tierney went mano y mano against his uncle, Princeton coach Bill Tierney — and the first time Seth got a victory. (Last year, Princeton won 11-6 after beating the Pride 5-4 in 2007.)

“It’s a great win for us,” Hofstra junior midfielder Tom Interlicchio told me shortly after it ended.

Who could argue? After all, it marks the second straight year the Pride has beaten one of the traditional powerhouse programs in the nation. (Last year, they defeated Hopkins 8-7 in overtime.)

Interlicchio and Tommy Dooley, who were both all-Americans at Yorktown High School, each had goals for Hofstra. Dooley added an assist.

The Pride jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 5-1 at the half. And that was another key. Any time you play the Tigers, it’s almost impossible to play catch-up against them. So taking an early lead is huge.

Wantagh’s Anthony Muscarella showed some of his scoring prowess that was regularly on display throughout last season for Hofstra today with three big goals.

When I heard Hofstra pulled out the win, I assumed that junior goaltender Danny Orlando, who was sidelined in last week’s 12-7 loss to Johns Hopkins, had returned to action. But no. Andrew Gvozden, a freshman who subbed for Lucas last week in an intriguing goalie matchup against his brother (Hopkins netminder Michael Gvozden), made his second collegiate start and made nine saves.

You can check out the box score here.

Also of note today, No. 2 Syracuse beat No.6 Johns Hopkins 14-11 before 9.197 fans. It was a rematch of last year’s national final, won by the Orange.

The win was SU’s third straight against Hopkins, to equal its longest win streak in the heated series.

Sophomore Josh Amidon had a career-high three goals for the Orange.

In the battle of Maryland, it was UMBC that once again prevailed. In fact, the No. 9 Retrievers’ 9-7 win over No. 7 Maryland was their third straight against the Terps.

In another big intra-state showdown, No. 10 Duke defeated No. 8 North Carolina 12-8.

It was the Tar Heels’ 19th straight ACC loss as first-year coach Joe Breschi was denied his 100th win.

Surprising St. John’s lost for the first time this season as John Schiavone won 17 of 20 faceoffs to led the No. 14 Loyola Greyhounds to a 10-7 victory.

Now, back to the Fairfield-Colgate game. This was a big game for a variety of reasons – not the least of which was the fact that Colgate had just endured a rough stretch in which it lost three straight highly contest games (all to highly ranked teams in Duke, North Carolina and UMBC). Though the Raiders beat Holy Cross 22-9 in their previous game this was a vital game for them.

“Absolutely,” Bosco said. “Especially coming off those three games and going into Navy (on March 21).”

It was also a big win for Fairfield, which received votes in the latest USILA coaches poll after a 2-1 start, which included a 10-9 season-opening win over Delaware. (Colgate received votes in the latest Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll.)

Early on, it looked like it was going  to be all Fairfield as the Stags jumped out to a 3-0 first-quarter lead.

But the Raiders battled back to tie it at 4-4 at halftime. Bosco then ended a 4-0 run early in the fourth quarter by scoring a spectacular goal while falling to the ground that gave ‘Gate a 12-9 lead with 6:17 remaining.

This was the second time this season I saw Fairfield in action and the second time I came away impressed with freshman John Snellman. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound attackman, who had two goals on six shots, has the potential to accomplish some big things for the Stags. Freshman goaltender John Cipriano, a product of Herricks High School, also has a bright future for Fairfield.

Of course, a trio of former Section 1 athletes — Lakeland/Panas product Billy Honovich, Yorktown’s Gary Raniolo and Somers’ Matt Petre — are among Fairfield’s five captains. (The Stags’ next game by the way is Tuesday at Marist, where Raniolo’s cousin, Ryan Penner, is Marist’s goaltender.)

Another former Section 1 standout, Rye’s Kevin Gordon, has the size (at 6-3, 185) and skills to become a contributor for Colgate.

You can check out the box score here.

Be sure to write back with your comments on college lax.

You can reach Joe Lombardi at joe@laxlessons.com.