Plays of the year, according to the Associated Press

Story by Tim Reynolds • Associated Press | Photos by the Associated Press

This was a year of moments. Justify won the Triple Crown. The U.S. beat Canada in a shootout for gold in women's hockey at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and John Shuster pulled off the curling shot of all time to win another red, white and blue gold. Stefon Diggs engineered a miracle in Minneapolis to win a playoff game for the Vikings. Tiger Woods walked down the 18th fairway a winner again. Loyola Chicago became the darling of college basketball during the NCAA tournament, fueled by a penchant for dramatics at the buzzer. All of them spectacular. None of them made the list of the Associated Press' Plays of the Year. These come from some of the biggest events of the year — the Stanley Cup Final, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the AL Championship Series and the women's Final Four. One was from a volleyball player using her feet, another from a quarterback who made a winning throw but didn't touch a football. And they all stood out a bit more than most. Here are the best plays in sports for 2018:

10. Holtby saves the Caps

Washington goalie Braden Holtby might have turned the Stanley Cup Final around with one save. Alex Tuch had a chance to tie Game 2 of the series with about two minutes left. Alone in the slot, he took a pass and had tons of open net to shoot at from right on the doorstep — only to be denied by Holtby, who stabbed his stick at the air and just managed to find the puck. "Thank God he's our goalie," Caps star Alex Ovechkin said. The Capitals went on to win the series.

9. Harden breaks ankles

Poor Wesley Johnson. Poor, poor Wesley Johnson. All he was trying to do was guard Houston star James Harden, and he ended up on the ground as an unwitting participant in a highlight for the ages. Harden crossed Johnson over and caused him to stumble to the floor — it's called "breaking ankles" in basketball vernacular — and it only got worse from there for the Clippers guard. Harden stared at him, held the ball for nearly three seconds, then made a three-pointer.

8. Messi, in a flash

7. Bump, kick, spike

The pass from Kailey Elrod wasn't perfect, and all Talia Watson could do was get her foot on the ball and flick it skyward. By the way, this wasn't soccer. This was volleyball. The Cedar Crest College Falcons of Allentown, Pa., had match point against the College of Staten Island on Sept. 6, and Elrod's bump from the baseline was low. Watson got her foot on the ball — yes, it's legal — to extend the point, and eventually she had a more conventional set to set up a kill that capped Cedar Crest's 3-0 victory.

6. Sling and a prayer

Julian McGarvey is a quarterback at Marist College now, but his best throw of 2018 had nothing to do with football or college. He was still a high school senior in the spring, and his team was down by two with time running out in New York state's Section 1 Class A boys' basketball championship game. McGarvey intercepted a long pass, stumbled, gathered himself — some angles show that he didn't travel — and heaved a 70-foot desperation try that dropped to give Ardsley a 52-51 win over Tappan Zee. Ardsley went on to make the state championship game, before eventually falling.

5. LeBron saves the day

4. Tua for the win

This has to be the best second-and-26 play in football history. His team down by three in overtime, in the national championship game, one play after taking a very bad sack for a 16-yard loss, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa connected with DeVonta Smith on a 41-yard toss on what became the final play of the Crimson Tide's 26-23 win over Georgia. Alabama won its fifth national championship in the past 10 seasons.

3. Patriots posterized — twice

The two most memorable plays of 2018 in the NFL have much in common: They were touchdowns against the New England Patriots, went viral immediately and got cool names. The Philly Special was Nick Foles catching a touchdown pass from Trey Burton late in the first half of the Eagles' win in the Super Bowl over the Pats, and the Miami Miracle was the Dolphins connecting on a pass and two laterals before Kenyan Drake darted into the end zone for a 69-yard TD that beat New England 34-33 on the final play.

2. Arike's two miracles

1. A dive into Red Sox lore

Andrew Benintendi may never make a better catch. The left fielder for the Boston Red Sox made a diving grab to end Game 4 of the AL Championship Series, a huge play on his team's run to the World Series title. Boston led 8-6, up 2-1 in the series, but the bases were loaded in Houston and the crowd was roaring. Alex Bregman hit a liner that was sinking fast, and if it had gotten past Benintendi the Astros likely would have scored three runs to win. But Benintendi dived perfectly and snared the ball just above the grass, and the rest is now Red Sox lore — as well as the play of the year.