A wild Champions League finish just echoed some of Florida’s most legendary endings

Even if one doesn’t follow the Champions League, there is a good chance that by now the viral clip of Benfica’s goalkeeper scoring has made the rounds to an algorithm near everyone. Thanks in part to a format change that had 18 games being played at once, the Portuguese soccer team Benfica needed one more goal against Spanish giants Real Madrid to secure advancement in the competition. Benfica brought their goalkeeper up for one final free kick, and he slotted a header into the back of the net for the final play of the game.

The Florida Gators don’t have men’s soccer, but over the past decade, they have had some similar chaotic finishes that had everyone on the internet talking. These are five notable walk-off wins the Gators have had over the past ten years.

Florida beats LSU on a goal-line stand

Part of what made Florida’s 2016 win over LSU special was the backstory and context of the game itself. The two schools traded barbs over the game getting pushed back due to Hurricane Matthew. LSU accused Florida of dragging its feet until the last possible second and was not pleased with having to shuffle around its own schedule.

When the game finally got played, it had heightened stakes thanks to Florida needing a win to clinch the SEC East and a trip to Atlanta.

In a rock fight, LSU got down to first and goal on the seven-yard line with 35 seconds to play, down 16-10. 

By 3rd down, they were down to the one.

It came down to a 4th down run from Derrius Guice, who was swarmed by Florida’s defense and stuffed at the line to secure the win for the Gators.

Chris Chiozza hits a running three at the buzzer

One of the most iconic shots in Florida history is when Chris Chiozza, down by two, hit a running three-pointer in overtime against Wisconsin in the Sweet 16.

The irony of Chiozza’s shot is that it wasn’t until the following season that he was an embedded starter for Florida, and in that Sweet 16 game, he wasn’t having a great game prior to his iconic shot. Before hitting the game winner, Chiozza had just five points to go along with three turnovers.

Also forgotten from this game is that Florida blew an eight-point lead with 1:44 in regulation to send the game to overtime in the first place.

Florida hits a Jose Conseco home run to move on to the College World Series 

In recent Florida history, one could argue that the most iconic moment Florida Baseball has had was Wyatt Langford’s home run against Virginia in 2023. But that only tied the game, and the walk-off winner came from a sacrifice fly from Luke Heyman.

In terms of walk-off wins, Florida’s win over Auburn in Game Three of the 2018 Super Regional is hard to beat.

Florida was trying to march back to Omaha to defend its national title, and the Gators took Game One 8-2 before Auburn took Game Two 3-2 to force a winner-take-all Game Three.

Aubrun tied the game at 2-2 in the 7th, and both teams struggled mightily from there to generate any kind of offensive momentum.

That’s when Austin Langworthy stepped up in the bottom of the 11th and roped a ball to right field that looked like it would wind up in the glove of Auburn’s right fielder. Instead, it bounced off the glove and over the fence to send Florida back to Omaha.

Walter Clayton Jr. closeout delievers Florida the national title

Last year’s national title run was filled with enough heart-pounding moments for fans to keep Gainesville heart doctors busy for a long time. But as chaotic as Florida’s run was, it wasn’t until the national title game against Houston that any of their tournament games came down to the absolute final shot.

After Denezel Aberdeen, the guy Todd Golden “didn’t believe” in, made one of two free throws to take a two-point lead, Houston had one last chance to either send the game to overtime or to win it all with a three-pointer.

Ironically, Walter Clayton Jr. lost his man on the play, but it worked out to his favor. His late closeout caused just enough chaos to force Houston to overthink things and make the clock run out.

Feleipe Franks throws a Hail Mary to beat Tennessee

To be honest, the game itself in 2017 for Florida and Tennessee was a snooze fest. The Gators took a lead, let the Volunteers claw back, and it felt like a game destined for overtime.

But then Feleipe Franks rolled out, and at first it seemed like he was just trying to get a chunk play to set up a field goal. However, deep down the field, he saw Tyrie Cleveland, so he let it rip.

Cleveland ran underneath the pass and hauled it in for the walk-off Hail Mary for essentially the only notable highlight from the 2017 campaign.