Bachtle's Four Goals Headline Home Opener

PARK CITY, UT — Captain Erick Bachtle’s four goals made victory look easy for the Park City Outliers (3-0-0-0) over the Ventura Vikings (0-1-0-0) in a 9-4 drubbing to open up the home slate.

The left-hander sliced in a goal to wrap up the first period. That preceded a pair of goals within 24 seconds in the middle frame.

The Vikings made the Outliers sweat. Bachtle’s crew had allowed four unanswered Ventura goals, three within the span of one minute and 39 seconds.

The Kansas native said that he made a conscious decision to flip the script. He explained, “My next shift — I was like ‘I’m done with this, and we need to get back in the game, and I need to get the boys going.’ I got that first one, and I was hyped up, and then I got a breakaway and scored another and didn’t even know how to feel.”

The first hat trick of the 2026-2027 season for Park City did not stop there. With 21 seconds remaining in the game, Bachtle chipped in another to match the number four on the back of his jersey.

“It was our first game — the home opener — so I was pretty pumped up. I like to score, so I like to put the puck in the net.”

Outside of the captain, the offense still excelled. Landon Billings opened the scoring fewer than three minutes into the affair, preceding Burke Newton’s powerplay goal about five minutes later. Once Bachtle swayed the whiplash back to the home team, rookie Alex Small deflected a shot into the back of the net.

Once the third period began, Keene Lincoln set the tone with a shorthanded goal 44 seconds in which the youngest player on the team, 17-year-old Hank Hughes, followed up by scoring just two minutes and two seconds later.

Bachtle capped the win by describing that staying true to form is a recipe for success. He said, “Playing in our structure was the main part. We got out of it for a little bit, but when we play in our structure, I don’t think any team can handle us.”

Joining in the fun with multiple points, returner Aidan Tatro’s first outing of the new season included a pair of assists. Oscar Göckel’s first points arrived in the exact same form. Defenseman Mads Egge-Edner also capitalized with a pair of helpers.

Killing off five of six penalties, the defense worked through adversity. Netminder Will Zinnen’s 19 saves on 23 shots marked a new high in stops for the season.

Park City hits the road on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. MDT puck drop in Rock Springs, WY. The Outliers then flip home ice with the Miners for a 7:05 p.m. start time back at the Black Rock Event Center on Friday. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.pcoutliers.com/tickets.