Lyon to face Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final after ousting PSG

PARIS (AP) — Lyon will play Barcelona in the final of the Women’s Champions League after beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the semifinal second leg and 5-3 on aggregate.

Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay scored for the visitors on Sunday.

The May 25 final in Bilbao, northern Spain, will be a rematch of the 2019 and 2022 finals, both won by Lyon, the most successful club in the competition with eight titles.

Lyon is the only team still unbeaten in the Women’s Champions League this season.

“We’ve worked so hard this past year to get back to this point,” Lyon midfielder Lindsey Horan told broadcaster DAZN. “Obviously, coming off the last year and going into this season, we knew this was a goal of ours and a dream of ours again, and that’s the standard of this club and the level that we hold. I’m so proud of this team.”

In an all-French encounter, Lyon caught PSG off guard by playing a short corner in the third minute. Bacha cut inside to open the scoring with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Lyon nearly doubled the lead in the 34th but PSG goalkeeper Constance Picaud pulled off an outstanding save to prevent her teammate Jade Le Guilly from scoring an own-goal.

PSG capitalized on a Lyon turnover in midfield to equalize with an angled strike from Tabitha Chawinga into the far corner in the 41st.

Picaud kept PSG in the game by tipping a shot from France forward Kadidiatou Diani over the bar in the 43rd, denying Dumornay in the 52nd and parrying shots from Amel Majri and Dumornay in the 65th.

Lyon put the overall result beyond doubt in the 81st when Majri cushioned a cross into the path of Dumornay, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.

PSG and Lyon were meeting for a record 11th time in this competition.

Lyon won the first leg 3-2.

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Lyon's Damaris Egurrola vies for the ball with PSG's Tabitha Chawinga, left, during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Melchie Dumornay, center, celebrates after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Melchie Dumornay, center right, celebrates with Selma Bacha after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PSG's Sakina Karchaoui, center, troies to score but loses the ball to a Lyon defender during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Lindsey Horan jumps for the ball with PSG's Elisa De Almeida, in the background, during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PSG's Tabitha Chawinga eyes the ball while Lyon's Ellie Carpenter, left, runs at her during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Lindsey Horan, 2nd right, and her teammates celebrate at the end of the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Lyon won 2-1 to advance to the final. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Selma Bacha, Wendie Renard and coach Sonia Bompastor, from left, celebrate at the end of the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Lyon won 2-1 to advance to the final. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PSG's Tabitha Chawinga celebrates after scoring her side's first goal during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Vanessa Gilles, left, and Ellie Carpenter celebrate at the end of the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Lyon won 2-1 to advance to the final. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Melchie Dumornay, center, celebrates after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Lyon's Melchie Dumornay, center, celebrates with Selma Bacha and Amel Majri, left, after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League semifinal, second leg, soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes, in Paris, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Advocates for victims of abuse at Missouri boarding schools on Monday urged the state's attorney general to launch an investigation, work with local prosecutors and take other steps aimed at stemming the tide of abuse.

Three Christian boarding schools in southern Missouri have shut down since 2020 amid wide-ranging abuse allegations levied by current and former students. Several people affiliated with those schools are facing criminal charges. Advocates who worry that more abuse is going unpunished gathered Monday outside Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey's St. Louis office to demand action.

“This is a structural problem,” said David Clohessy, a longtime advocate for abused children and former leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “These are facilities that are remote, independent, private, sometimes for-profit, largely under the radar with little or no scrutiny, state oversight, monitoring or supervision. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

A spokeswoman for Bailey said in an email that the attorney general's office does not have jurisdiction to prosecute criminal cases, except when appointed as special prosecutor by the governor or a court.

“As a former prosecutor, Attorney General Bailey takes crime very seriously,” spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said, adding that Bailey “has taken substantive action to combat human trafficking where the law allows.”

Amanda Householder, now 33, is among the former students who claimed she was abused. Her story was different than most, though: Her parents, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, owned Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in remote southern Missouri until it closed in 2020 after investigators removed about two dozen girls.

Boyd and Stephanie Householder are scheduled to go to trial in November on a combined 100 charges accusing them of abusing girls at Circle of Hope. Boyd Householder, 74, was charged with 22 counts of having sexual contact, including sexual intercourse, with one girl who was younger than 17 at the time.

Also, 16 former residents said the Householders frequently restrained them with handcuffs, whipped them with belts, taped their mouths shut and struck or punched them for minor offenses such as singing.

Messages were left with attorneys for the Householders. Phones listed as those of the couple have been disconnected.

Amanda Householder sued her parents, accusing them of beating her and forcing her to impose harsh punishments on other girls at Circle of Hope. She announced Monday that the lawsuit was settled but declined to discuss details.

Amanda Householder said she is forming a new nonprofit aimed at helping those victimized at boarding and reform schools.

“We have to be the voices for kids that are going through what we went through years ago,” Householder said.

Other Missouri facilities operating as Christian boarding schools also have come under intense scrutiny in recent years.

Agape Boarding School in Stockton closed in 2023 after abuse allegations. In 2021, Agape’s longtime doctor was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts.

In March, ABM Ministries’ Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont shut down after kidnapping charges were filed against the husband-and-wife owners, who were accused of locking a student in a room. A teacher also was charged with abuse for allegedly injuring a 15-year-old boy while boxing.

For decades, Missouri had among the most lax boarding school regulations of any state in the nation. A 1982 state law gave religious boarding schools free rein and the state no way to monitor how kids were educated. Even the state Health Department had no oversight, including for schools that claimed to address mental health, behavioral and addiction issues.

A new law was adopted in 2021 after extensive reporting from The Kansas City Star found that several faith-based boarding schools, including Agape, relocated to Missouri after being investigated or shut down for abuse or neglect elsewhere.

The new law sets minimum health and safety requirements for boarding schools, which still don’t have to be licensed. It mandates background checks for employees; requires adequate food, clothing and medical care for students; and says parents must be allowed access to their children at any time without prior notice.

Several students have run away from southern Missouri boarding schools in recent years, often claiming abuse. Two 15-year-olds went missing Saturday at a boarding school near Ava but were found safe Monday at a nearby cabin. Messages were left with the sheriff. A school official said it isn't yet clear what prompted the boys to leave.

Amanda Householder, center, speaks outside the St. Louis office of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday, May 13, 2024, as David Clohessy, right, listens. They were among a group of people urging Bailey to take action in response to allegations of child abuse at Christian boarding schools in southern Missouri. (AP Photo/Jim Salter)