It sounds cliché, but as a reporter, I hear it all the time.

Athletes will always talk about how they are taking everything day to day, or one opponent at a time.

This safe answer may not always be the honest truth, but in tournament situations this is the only way to be successful. When the stakes are win or go home, teams need to focus on only the game ahead of them.

In the regular season, except for Division 1A College Football, a team can get away with an uninspired effort and it usually will not kill them. Sure, losses are tough, but teams can get over them and still have successful seasons.

But when you’re in tournament play, every second matters.

We see it all the time in March Madness or college football, teams getting beat by inferior opponents because of the next game on the schedule.

This weekend as the nations No. 1 college football team Ohio State fell to unranked Illinois in a building they had not lost in since 2005, arguably because they were looking ahead to arch-rival Michigan.

Eastern men’s soccer cannot look ahead this week as the team will compete in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

The team begins the tournament against a Drake, a team they tied in the regular season.

If the team defeats Drake, a match-up with the tournaments No. 1 seed Bradley would be the Panthers next opponent.

If the Panther’s were to defeat Bradley, a rematch with Creighton would most likely follow.

Bradley and Creighton both defeated the Panthers, but did not outplay them.

Creighton defeated the Panthers in the final second of double overtime, while Bradley scored a late second half goal to secure a victory.

The late NC State coach Jim Valvono had a simple motto for his team during the NCAA Tournament every March: “Survive and advance,” Valvano would always tell his players.

The advice is very simple, and it really applies to this Eastern team.

The team has won a number of games grinding out wins and shutting teams down with a terrific defense.

Most of their eleven wins were not shootouts, but matches in which the team found a way to win with a clutch goal or a big defensive stop.

To win the conference tournament and earn a birth in the NCAA Tournament, the team has to continue with this style and cannot look ahead to conference favorites Bradley or Creighton.

In order to be successful, the team needs to take the advice of coach Valvano and survive and advance.