Soccer Stars Ali Krieger & Ashlyn Harris Secretly Engaged

National Women’s Soccer League stars Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are taking the next step in their relationship!

The pair, who were teammates on the U.S. National Team, started dating nearly a decade ago. Harris popped the question to Krieger in September at Clearwater Beach in Florida.

Of the surprise proposal, Krieger told People magazine, “It was a really good time because I felt really on the same page with her, and really excited about our future and talking about our future plans with kids, and family, and things like that. It just was a really good time. I was really surprised because it just seemed like another weekend getaway for us. I wasn’t really thinking about it at all!”

Harris added, “It was just us and this beautiful scenery, and I was just like… she was making me laugh, she wanted me to take pictures, and here I am. This is what I’m gonna be doing the rest of my life. It just all froze and I was like, ‘This is it.'”

The two are planning to get married later this year.

Ali and Ashlyn didn’t publicly address their romance for years. Krieger explained, “We wanted to be professional and make sure that we showed up every day and did our job and it wasn’t just because we were together, it was because we love what we do, and we’re really good at what we do.”

Harris shared, “We became more and more confident within and ourselves and then clearly within our relationship. We were like, now is the right time… and I feel like it’s a massive weight off of my shoulders. Finally, after all these years, I just feel like I don’t have to hide anything or feel like I’m not living up to the community I’m in.”

As for what they loved about each other, Krieger pointed out that it was Harris’ “creativity and ambition” that was “so attractive,” adding, “Since being with Ash, I really feel like I’ve blossomed into the woman that I want to be, and she’s helped me become the woman I am.”

Harris revealed that she gets mesmerized by Krieger’s “big, beautiful brown eyes,” adding, “I just felt like every time she was talking, I wasn’t even paying attention to what she was saying.”