Ashlyn Harris Says She's 'on Top of the World' After Announcing Engagement to Ali Krieger

On Wednesday, PEOPLE confirmed that National Women's Soccer League stars Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris got engaged

Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger are still feeling “on top of the world” after announcing their engagement earlier this week.

On Wednesday, PEOPLE confirmed that the National Women’s Soccer League stars are engaged and, in a new interview with Pro Soccer USA, the couple opened up about the supportive reaction to their announcement.

“I’m just very happy and living in the moment and enjoying this because it really never happens,” Harris, 33, told the outlet. “I feel like I’m always under stress and I’m always worried about the World Cup and I’m always worried about the [Orlando] Pride and making time for my personal life and, right now, I’m just like, on top of the world. I’m floating, and I’m very happy.”

“It feels so nice, and I know that seems so small, but, you know, we’ve been quiet about this for a long time in fear of our jobs, in fear of sponsorships,” Harris added to the outlet, “and it’s just so sad that you can’t be authentically you and organic, just how we want to live our life and the things we want to post or say.”

The couple both play for the Orlando Pride — Krieger is a defender, while Harris is a goalkeeper — and while many of their fans have long picked up on their chemistry together, though the duo has not publicly confirmed they were in a relationship until now.

“You always want to live your life authentically, but I’m very professional in the way I am with work, obviously, and I’m a very private person, so it’s always been hard just to, you know, put my life out there, no matter who I’m dating,” Krieger, 34, added.

“But now that it’s come to a point where our lifestyle is really accepted and I think that we’re so much more comfortable and confident in who we are, especially now with my age,” Krieger continued.

“We’ve been dating a really long time and we’re engaged and we’re moving forward and we’re building a future and, you know, hopeful for kids to come in little Pride jerseys,” Harris told Pro Soccer USA.

Daniel Seung Lee

The couple told PEOPLE that their romance began nearly a decade ago when they met while playing for the U.S. National Team.

“We became really close friends, and we just hung out, we clicked, and we had so much in common,” Harris told PEOPLE. “We always sat next to each other on the bus and on flights, and we kind of just talked about our dreams and our hopes and what we wanted to do one day when we grew up. Because at the time, we were kids.”

“The rest has kind of been history,” she continued. “Here we are nine years later, and we’re going to be getting married this year.”

For Krieger, it was Harris’ “creativity and ambition” that first drew her in.

“I find that so attractive, and the way that she makes me a better person. I think that I’m very quiet and reserved,” she said. “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.”

The engagement ring. Daniel Seung Lee

Harris popped the question as the two had a picnic by the rocks on Clearwater Beach on September 15, just a few days after they finished playing their final game of the season. As they took a selfie together of the sunset, Harris held up the ring to Krieger’s surprise.

“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,” Krieger said. “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 has been training for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, and the two are aiming for an end of the year wedding ceremony in Florida, they told PEOPLE.