Captains always blaze a path for their teammates to follow, and the trail that Hendricken product Noel Acciari charted over the weekend led to Providence College earning its first trip to the Frozen Four in 30 years.

The ex-Hawk scored a pair of goals and also chipped in with an assist in the East Regional held at the nominally-neutral Dunkin’ Donuts Center, as the fourth-seeded Friars upset top seed Miami of Ohio, 7-5, in the semifinal, then took care of Denver, 4-1, in the championship.

Acciari played a significant role in transforming what was a 2-2 deadlock at the first intermission into a 6-2 PC advantage in the Miami of Ohio game on Saturday.

He grabbed his 16th assist of the season with exactly eight minutes remaining in the middle stanza before notching his 13th goal of the campaign 30 seconds later, which led to the RedHawks pulling starting goaltender Jay Williams in favor of Ryan McKay.

McKay was able to stanch the bleeding, helping to set up a furious rally from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions that was eventually quashed by a Brandon Tanev empty-netter eight seconds from the end of the game.

The following evening’s encounter with No. 2 seed Denver had more of a methodical, chess match feel in the early going, as the stakes of the game dictated a more defensive outlook.

The contest remained scoreless until Acciari netted the opening goal with 5:38 left in the second period while on the power play, making the Pioneers’ Larkin Jacobson pay for his elbowing infraction in the process.

Denver responded 7:52 into the third with a power play goal of its own, as Edmonton Oilers’ draftee Joey LaLeggia evened the ledger with the aid of the glass stationed behind the Friar goal.

LaLeggia then turned from hero to zero for the Pioneers, receiving a game misconduct with 9:23 remaining for drilling PC’s Steve McParland with an open-ice hit that the officiating crew deemed to contain contact to the head.

The Friars’ power play unit then went to work, safe in the knowledge that the extended five-minute block of time with the man advantage would not be shortened in the event of a goal.

Indeed, the go-ahead goal came during the power play, with Tom Parisi breaking the tie with 5:01 to go, his shot on goal making its way through a forest of bodies before finding the twine.

A pair of empty net goals in the dying embers put the result beyond all doubt, punching Providence’s ticket for the Frozen Four and a national semifinal date with Midwest Regional champion Nebraska-Omaha on April 9.

For his efforts, Acciari was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional and was also named to the All-Regional team alongside three of his Friar teammates.