Via D.C. United.

D.C. United’s Ben Olsen has been named Major League Soccer Coach of the Year, after a season that saw the Red and Black rebound in a major way from a spectacularly bad 2013.

United finished the season with a 17-9-8 record, eliminated from the Eastern Conference semifinals by the New York Red Bulls. Despite the disappointing end to the season, the team “brought life back to the club from 2013,” as goalkeeper Bill Hamid put it. “We brought life back to the world of soccer in this city because 2013 was a year that a lot of people gave up on us, and we knew that. And we approached this season with the right mindset.”

“To be named Coach of the Year is an organizational honor that speaks to the success of D.C. United as a whole this season,” Olsen said in a statement. “General Manager Dave Kasper set this team up for success, and the players, coaches and staff all delivered and have plenty to be proud of. I am thankful for the commitment and belief in me from the team’s ownership group — Erick Thohir, Jason Levien and Will Chang — and I am excited about the future of this great club.”

The honor is well-timed. The D.C. Council is set to take its first vote on a $300 million deal that would bring a United stadium to Buzzard Point, in Southwest D.C.