Back in the fall of 2017, Ali had just started working as an English teacher at Pascack Hills High School. There was an evacuation drill, and on the walk back down from the football field, Ali felt someone step on the back of her shoe. She looked back, and saw then freshman, Nick, and a classroom aide with shaggy blonde hair wearing a Pascack Hills collared shirt. Nick said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Pfleging. I know you, you are the new English and Journalism teacher." The man next to him looked up and said, "Hello, I'm Matt Marini. I coach football and basketball here." From that point on, Matt made it a point to visit Ali while she was on hall duty every Friday. When he got the nerve to ask for her number, Ali said she would only give it to him if Hills won the game that night against Mahwah-- they had not beat the team in 25 years. That night, Ali checked for live updates on max preps every ten minutes. When she she saw that Hills beat Mahwah 20 to 7, she immediately emailed Matt her number. On June 16, 2021, Matt proposed to Ali in her classroom on the last day of school.