After dropping the first game, the Massachusetts men’s club rugby team rallied and won four out of its next six games in Sunday’s New England Rugby Sevens Tournament in Seekonk, Mass., placing first in the consolation bracket and third overall.

The Minutemen had been preparing for this tournament for two weeks, enduring freezing temperatures in order to organize their game plan. UMass usually plays Rugby Union, which is a different type of rugby, but sevens is played with only seven players per team and has seven minute halves as opposed to the 40-minute halves of Union.

“It’s more about ball control, staying out of contact, you want to stay much deeper,” captain Sam Grant said.

Grant played sevens over the summer and took a leadership role in organizing the team’s strategy.

Unfortunately for the Minutemen, that strategy was not implemented in the day’s first bout against Brown, as UMass lost 52-0.

“Our first game was such a blowout because we didn’t stay true to our structure,” Grant said.

Sevens and 15s fields are the same size, which means players have to spread out more when playing sevens, but UMass stayed tight, which opened up gaps for Brown. Missed tackles and a lackluster offense were the hallmarks of that game.

The second game, which was against UMass Dartmouth, went much differently, as the Minutemen won 54-0.

“We were shaking off cobwebs in that first one, but then we just came out and pounded on Dartmouth,” Jason Potash said. “We didn’t come out for nothing.”

UMass rolled with momentum into its third game against Northeastern’s second squad, in which senior Devin Ibanez scored a hat trick, earning more than half of the team’s points.

“We stayed real deep and wide,” said Potash, who also scored against Northeastern.

The Minutemen finished the 14 minutes up 26-0.

Things were looking up for the Minutemen after defeating Northeastern, and they were expecting to make it to the finals bracket, but a loss against New Hampshire kicked them into the consolation bracket. UNH was an evenly matched team but small mistakes led to a 15-0 loss.

The final two games were played in heavy rain and mud.

The Minutemen pulled of a 24-0 victory over Brown’s second squad to advance in the consolation bracket.

The rugby club’s final match of the day was against Northeastern’s second squad once again.

The game started off evenly matched with neither team gaining significant territory. But late in the first half, Grant picked up a turnover, which he swung out wide to Potash. Potash then had an 80-meter run for a try. This swung things in favor of UMass, who finished out the game on top 61-0 to clinch the top spot in the consolation bracket.

Tackles by Alphonsus Preza, offloads by Thomas Thekaekara and an overall sound performance culminated in a victory.

Freshman Brendan Kelly stood out all day on Sunday. He was the only player to stay on the field for every minute of every game. His performance was praised by his teammates.

“BK really stood out,” Grant said.

Sevens rugby demands nearly constant sprinting from players, and Kelly did not slow down all day. Kelly’s drive earned him the name “Iron Man” from his teammates. Kelly was the Minutemen’s top scorer on Sunday.

UMass put in a team effort, as all of the 12 starters and all but one substitution scored during the day’s matches.

The Minutemen opted out of a small trophy for their victory, instead claiming a large box of chips and snacks as their prize.

Jackson Goddard can be reached at [email protected].