Ryan McKay was the headliner for Miami University’s talented freshman class Friday night.

The rookie goaltender pitched a shutout in his collegiate debut and Blake Coleman tallied two goals as the eighth-ranked RedHawks opened the hockey season with a 3-0 victory over Colgate at Steve Cady Arena.

“I’ll take it any way I can get it, but I felt like as a team, we played well enough to deserve a shutout tonight,” said McKay, a Palatine, Ill., native who came up with 24 saves in the program’s first-ever shutout win in a season opener.

MU coach Enrico Blasi wasn’t surprised by the standout performance between the pipes.

“He seemed pretty well in control back there, which is not news to us,” Blasi said. “We’ve seen him do that for a while now.”

Coleman sandwiched his two goals around a Bryon Paulazzo tally for Miami, which did all of its scoring in the first two periods. Marc Hagel, Alex Wideman and Austin Czarnik all contributed assists.

Coleman is among the team leaders as a sophomore. He notched 12 goals last season and is the top returning goal scorer.

“I think all the returning guys have to step up, sophomore or whatever you are,” Coleman said. “We’ve played a year at least and know what it’s all about. We know it’s going to be a grind every night.”

The youthful RedHawks weren’t dominant (both teams had 24 shots on goal) before a crowd of 2,320, but they were physical and energetic. Miami was 0-for-4 on the power play — Colgate was 0-for-8.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Blasi said. “There were times where we got a little bit crazy, especially in our own zone. (But) our effort was pretty good tonight, and usually when your effort’s good, sometimes you get the bounces.

“We’re going to be able to get up and down the ice with a lot of teams. We can play physical as well. Tonight was proof of that.”

Coleman said the physicality of the game helped Miami find its collective groove against the Raiders (1-1).

“The first game of the year, it’s going to be a little sluggish off the bat, so being physical is the way to get into it, kind of get your body going,” Coleman said. “I think it led to the offense right away.”

“I think it’s just part of our team and how we recruit,” Blasi said of the physical play. “It’s kind of been our M.O. When we’re physical and we’re into the game and we’re skating, we’re effective.”

McKay was asked if he was thinking about the shutout as the contest against the visitors from the ECAC wore on.

“To answer your question brutally honestly, no,” McKay said. “You take one shot at a time as a goaltender.”

Blasi said freshman Jay Williams will likely get the call in goal today when MU hosts Colgate at 7:05 p.m.