The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely need a big game from star rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka if they are going to beat the Carolina Panthers on Saturday and keep their hopes alive of winning the NFC South. Just hours before the big game, Egbuka announced his engagement to his soccer star girlfriend.
In his rookie season out of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Egbuka has caught 62 passes for 930 yards and six touchdowns.
His girlfriend — now fiancée — Laney Matriano is a senior soccer player for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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The couple announced their engagement on Friday in a beautiful beach setting. Matriano wrote, “Everything we prayed for and more 🤍.”
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It must have been super hard for Matriano last year in the College Football Playoff National Championship to see her boyfriend and Buckeyes beat her Fighting Irish.
How did a Ohio State football superstar and a Notre Dame soccer sensation get together?
Egbuka and Matriano’s love story
It is unknown when they first met but they hard launched their relationship in 2025 as seen in this photo above back in May.
Matriano is from Willoughby, Ohio, and posted this photo in 2022 of her friends all going to Ohio State and her Notre Dame where she said she’ll be visiting them every weekend.
She likely met Egbuka through mutual connections despite going to school in South Bend, Indiana.
She’s a sports star, too
She started all 22 games for the Fighting Irish last season and logged the most minutes on the team. She had an 80 percent pass success rate and was a defensive anchor for the team.
Now, she’s a big Bucs fan.
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