Riley Barber has quickly found a home in Miami University’s hockey program.

A member of the RedHawks’ highly regarded freshman class, Barber is among the leading scorers for a squad that’s off to a 3-0-1 start and ranked third nationally.

“I think it’s going great,” said Barber, a Pittsburgh native who’s called Livonia, Mich., home since the seventh grade. “Our chemistry’s been real good. We had a great preseason, and we’re just carrying it into the year. We’ve been making plays and going to the dirty area to get goals.”

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward has notched three goals and two assists. He’s tied with sophomores Blake Coleman and Austin Czarnik for MU’s point lead.

“It’s always lucky to get a couple bounces here and there,” Barber said. “I think I’ve been playing a hard-nosed game for the first couple games, and I’ve just been getting rewarded for my hard work.”

Miami coach Enrico Blasi likes what he’s seen of his unit thus far, but said there’s much work to be done for the RedHawks to reach their potential.

“I think our team’s competitive spirit is pretty good,” Blasi said. “Our enthusiasm, our passion, the way we approach the games, have been real positive. As far as what we need to work on, there’s so many things that we’re just chipping away at. There’s not one particular thing we need to get better at. We’ve got to improve in all aspects of our game.”

He said MU’s national ranking is irrelevant at this point. It is No. 3 in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.

“I think the pollsters have some previous bias on teams that we’ve had here in the past,” Blasi said. “This is a team that’s still working to play a complete game. Rankings are rankings at this time of the year. They have nothing to do with anything.”

The RedHawks begin their final season of Central Collegiate Hockey Association play tonight at Michigan. The sixth-ranked Wolverines are 2-1, splitting with Rochester Institute of Technology and beating Bentley.

Barber’s Livonia home is less than a half hour from Ann Arbor. He has played with Wolverine freshmen Jared Rutledge (goalie), Jacob Trouba (defenseman) and Andrew Copp (forward).

“I know those three guys really, really well, and a couple of the other guys I just know of,” Barber said. “They’re a fast team. They’ve always been good and very arrogant — they think they’re better than everybody. So we’re going to come in there and show them what Miami hockey’s all about.”

Michigan has scored 17 goals in its first three games, yet has allowed 10. Miami outscored Colgate and Providence by a 13-5 margin.

“Michigan is the same as always,” Blasi said. “They want to score in bunches. They’re going to come at you in waves, and you’ve got to be ready to play an intense game. You’ve got to pay attention to detail. Otherwise, they’re going to stick it down your throat.”

The RedHawks played without senior defenseman Joe Hartman last weekend, and Blasi said his status is day to day. He declined to reveal Hartman’s injury.

Freshmen Ryan McKay and Jay Williams have been in goal on a Friday-Saturday rotation through the first two series. Blasi wouldn’t name tonight’s starter, but said things could change now that the CCHA season is here.